Story by Claudine Arndt
Mary Fischer, co-leader with Brooke Knisley of the on-farm event Sowing Seeds: Celebrating Local Foods and Lost Skills in Madelia, believes agritourism is invaluable for connecting people to agriculture. Simply stated, agritourism is the marriage of tourism and agriculture and involves attracting visitors onto a farm, ranch or other agricultural business for the purposes of entertaining or educating the visitors while generating income for the farmer, rancher or business owner. Mary comments, “As people have located more densely into the city and away from the farm, experiences that were typical a hundred years ago have become rare and forgotten. Those experiences on the farm and in the country are crucial, however, in forming society with basic knowledge and understanding of how the circle of food and livestock production work. It is a passion of mine to allow people and especially children to experience "farm life.” Mary and her husband farm with their two young children near Hanska, about 30 miles west of Mankato.
In recent years, Mary has noticed her community taking greater measures to increase awareness of the area’s local farms, citing the community co-op in New Ulm and the New Ulm Farmers’ Market as important drivers behind the push for more local foods. Conversely, she feels there’s space for more restaurants to intentionally incorporate local products into their offerings. A few establishments leading the way in her area include Sleepy Eye Brewing Company in Sleepy Eye, Lola's in New Ulm and Chankaska Creek Winery in Kasota. She adds, “I believe there are more opportunities available and the city governing bodies could play a big role in providing incentives to businesses that truly keep dollars local.”
Nearby in Waldorf, Dan and Lara Zimmerli of Cedar Crate Farm became farmers because they wanted to share great-tasting produce with their community. Disappointed by the subpar produce they regularly found at grocery stores nearby, they decided their community deserved better and they could do something about it. Dan grew up on a conventional corn and soybean farm, which helped shape his business mindset around farming, but he was equally influenced by the enormous garden his mom tended and the food she preserved. He comments, “I was immersed in the produce side from my mom and her garden and the career side of farming from my dad.”
Dan agrees with Mary and would like to see more nearby restaurants demonstrate a commitment to local foods. He notes that St. Peter Food Co-op and River Rock Coffee currently stand out as the best local food supporters in their area. Dan and Lara began working with the food co-op after meeting the produce manager at an event and simply saying, “Hey, I grow produce; do you want to buy some?” He admits there was a significant learning curve in the beginning, as it was their farm’s first big wholesale account, but through productive discussions at winter planning meetings, they eventually hammered out the nitty gritty details surrounding specific products, seasonal availability, quantities and price. The relationship with River Rock Coffee blossomed after River Rock opened a second location in Mankato. Dan enthuses, “They are so good at uplifting local farmers and local food.” Dan admires how River Rock’s staff go the extra mile by name dropping farmers on their chalkboard menus, listing farm names next to the relevant ingredients on grab-and-go packaging (i.e. Lettuce from Cedar Crate Farm), and tagging farms on social media for mutual benefit. All of this in addition to buying the food in the first place. Dan would love to see a shakeup in the Mankato restaurant scene and concludes, “I wish people didn’t treat local foods just as a promotion. You need to have the chef or the business owner be really committed. Some people get it and some don’t.”
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