Nourish by MN350

This week on Nourish by MN350, host Barbara Norblom talks urban agriculture in Minneapolis with a whole smorgasbord of guests. Today’s show includes poet Michael Chaney of Project Sweetie Pie, a nonprofit teaching youth in North Minneapolis how to grow and sell their own food; Hindolo Pokawa from Sierra Leone Foundation for New Democracy, which provides education, childcare, and trainings in sustainable farming based on generations-old methods; and DeVon Nolen, who is both part of the Northside Fresh team and a former Chair of the Homegrown Minneapolis Food Policy Council, a citywide initiative expanding our community’s ability to grow, process, distribute, eat and compost more healthy, sustainable, locally grown foods. Our guests discuss how they learned about and got started in urban farming, the missions of their organizations, and their visions and solutions for healing our broken food system.

Full episode transcript available here.

In this episode of Nourish by MN350, our host Terry Hokenson talks with Collie Graddick of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, and Naima Dhore, the founder of the recently launched Somali American Farmers Association. Collie Graddick discusses the history of black farming and his own family’s ties to the formation of the Co-operative movement. Naima shares how growing microgreens in her apartment eventually led her to studying the agroecology of Cuba and buying her own farm. Collie and Naima highlight the importance of community - of creating and maintaining strong communities through food and access to land - while warning of the potential of BigAg to co-opt language around sustainable and regenerative agriculture.

Find out more about our guest and their amazing work:

Collie Graddick is a founding member of Minneapolis food justice groups such as Afro Eco, Northside Fresh, Project Sweetie Pie, and Cooperative Table - North.

You can find out more about Naima’s farm at her website https://naimasfarm.com/about/ .

Full episode transcript available here.

In this episode Reginaldo Haslet-Marroquin, President and CEO of Regenerative Agriculture Alliance, and Rodrigo Cala, owner of Cala Farm and Owner-member/Secretary of Shared Ground Farmers’ Cooperative dive into the idea of regenerative agriculture as a system of energy management. From developing a regenerative business model, to using science to balance energy while farming, to how this plays out within the community, they explain some of the practices and principles they use to manage the health of the soil as well as the health of products in the marketplace. Reginaldo describes this as a way of working with nature, rather than trying to conquer it. Reginaldo and Rodrigo also discuss their work with immigrant and Latino farmers, helping them build business strategies to take them from doing cheap (or underpaid) work to being creative, getting ahead of market trends, and having such a secure system that they can last through economic hardships such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Full episode transcript available here.

Is the practice of agriculture an immediate detriment to the land if it forces a crop to grow in a non-native habitat? Is sustainable agriculture really the goal if it merely sustains mediocrity?

In this episode of Nourish, host Terry Hokenson continues the conversation about regenerative agriculture with two inspiring caretakers of the Earth, who share their knowledge on indigenous ways of growing food that focuses on healing the land and all life that depends on Her.

Francis Bettelyoun (Oglala Lakȟóta-Očhéthi Šakówiŋ) is Coordinator of the Native American Medicine Gardens at the University of Minnesota and co-creator of Buffalo Star People Healing Circles, which provides transformational education and healing for adult survivors of childhood traumas and abuses. Jessika Greendeer is a Farm Manager with Dream of Wild Health: a 10-acre farm in Hugo, MN where urban Native American communities reconnect with traditional Native plants and their culinary, medicinal and spiritual uses. Together, Jessica and Francis acknowledge each other’s work throughout their individual healing journeys and inspire listeners to get in touch with their own land-based cultures to discover their own ancestral seeds.

Full episode transcript available here.

In the first episode of Nourish by MN350, host Terry Hokenson covers a lot of ground with his guests Shona Snater of the Land Stewardship Project, Bob Dahm of Organic Bob Lawn Care, and Leslie McKenzie, founder of Transition Longfellow. Together they explore the idea that agriculture and gardening can play a role in solving the climate crisis. Shona describes her work in southern MN with farmers reaching out to learn all they can about regenerative farming practices, and why diversity in the soil matters. She explains six separate goals LSP has for creating farmland that is diverse and regenerative. Bob Dahm speaks to us about our yards. Bob works at convincing his customers to plant diverse, native plants in their yards as a more sustainable practice. He also manages to keep lawns, for those who have them, lush and green without harmful chemicals. Leslie McKenzie points out the benefits of having chickens in the city as a way to improve our soil, and share resources for consumers looking to buy in to the regenerative food economy.

Full episode transcript available here.

Host Margaret Patkus and MN350 volunteers Sarah Riedl, Marita Bujold, Tenley Feinberg, and Eli Crain give listeners a crash course on food systems, climate change, and what to expect from the episodes to come.

Full episode transcript available here.