The Eat Local Farm Tour is Coming Soon!

Get Connected to Local Minnesota Farmers The Old Fashioned Way: In-Person

Living in Minnesota, you have probably driven past a rolling corn, soybean or vegetable field at least a few times. Most likely you have seen a cow or two out to pasture.

The farms whizzing by in your rearview mirror may seem distant and perhaps unimportant in pursuit of your next destination. That next destination may involve being connected to your computer, iPad, television, or smart phone.  However, what happened to being directly connected to local farms and where your food is grown?

Through the third annual Eat Local Farm Tour on Saturday, July 20, 2013, the Twin Cities food co-ops restore this face-to-face connection by providing their members and the general public with an easy opportunity to meet eighteen diverse Minnesota farmers.  This experience teaches attendees first-hand about sustainable and organic agriculture. The eleven food co-ops sponsoring this year’s tour are Eastside Food Co-op, Harvest Moon Co-op, Just Food Co-op, Lakewinds Natural Foods, Linden Hills Co-op, Mississippi Market Natural Foods Co-op, River Market Community Co-op, Seward Community Co-op, St. Peter Food Co-op, The Wedge and Valley Natural Foods.

 “When you drive by a field of corn or soybeans, you don’t get the connection with the vegetables, the chickens and the eggs and so on,” says Rae Rusnak, owner of L&R Poultry and Produce in Kenyon, Minnesota. “However, on the Twin Cities food co-ops’ Eat Local Farm Tour, you do. You need to have a personal experience with something before you really put some ownership and connectivity to it, realizing that it is something important that is worth having and worth preserving.”

For that Eat Local Farm Tour veteran looking for new places to visit, the 2013 tour line-up does include six different farms, including Chankaska Creek Ranch & Winery, Growing Lots Urban Farm, Riverbend Farm, Stone’s Throw Urban Farm, The Beez Kneez Bicycle Delivered Honey and 10th Street Farm and Market.

 “As the old adage says, a picture is worth a thousand words,” Rusnak adds. “When you actually see what we are doing, the ideas of free-range, organic and sustainable, all those things suddenly make sense. ”

The Eat Local Farm Tour makes that picture come alive, with sounds, tastes and smells into a world that you can finally feel a part of. Visit Rusnak at L&R Poultry and Produce on the 2013 Eat Local Farm Tour and you will have the chance to see free-range boiler chickens and laying hens and perhaps even get the chance to pick an egg. Stroll further to tour five acres of vegetable gardens and make sure to visit the turkeys on the other end.  Don’t forget to linger through the maple syrup woods and then end your day with a picnic lunch in the shade.

However, perhaps counting sheep is more your style. Stop by Shepherd’s Way Farms in Nerstrand, Minnesota to enjoy a tour of a milking parlor, a milk room, a cheese making room and an aging room. Learn about the whole process of making artisan sheep milk cheese from beginning to end.  Tantalize your taste buds with many cheese and sausage tastings along the way.

“A lot of people don’t have regular exposure to farmers or where their food comes from and we like to play a part in that,” says Jodi Ohlsen-Read, owner of Shepherd’s Way Farms. “We’ve set up our farm to be able to do tours because it helps connect us to our food community. Farming is a fairly isolated job so it is nice to be connected to people that care about their food too.”

This is just the beginning of the farm adventure you can have on July 20. From poultry, dairy, beef, bee and vegetable farming, whether it be on a small or large scale, the exploration opportunities are endless.  All tours are self-guided and the hours of operation differ from farm to farm. Look for free detailed 2013 Eat Local Farm Tour guidebooks  complete with maps, suggested geographic routes, hours and tour activities at all participating co-op locations now.

The other farms rounding out the tour include Big River Farms, Cedar Summit, East Henderson Farm, Ferndale Market, Gardens of Eagan, Kohnert Farm Organics, Living Land Farm, Simple Harvest Organics, Thousand Hills Cattle Company and the Women’s Environmental Institute.

Stop by and pick up your Self Guided Farm Tour booklet at Just Food and make plans to attend the tour on July 20!