This is the third and last episode in a series featuring chef and farmer relationships highlighted at the 8th annual Minnesota Cooks event, which will take place at the State Fair on Tuesday, August 31st.

Doug Peterson, President of the Minnesota Farmers Union, and Jill Grunewald, Assistant Program Manager at Food Alliance Midwest, talk about Minnesota Cooks at the start of the show. The rest of the show features Tim and Marijo Fischer of Fischer Family Farms Pork in Waseca and Joe Hatch-Surisook of Sen Yai Sen Lek in Minneapolis.

Tim and Marijo Fischer and Joe Hatch-Surisook work hard and live by similar guiding principles. Their reward is knowing that they have created a product, be it bacon or a curry dish, that will “wow” the customer.

You can find the schedule for Minnesota Cooks at the state fair on the Minnesota Cooks website.

Original Article

This is the second in a series of episodes featuring a chef and farmer relationship highlighted at the 8th annual Minnesota Cooks event, which will take place at the State Fair on Tuesday, August 31st.

Doug Peterson, President of the Minnesota Farmers Union, and Jill Grunewald, Assistant Program Manager at Food Alliance Midwest, talk about Minnesota Cooks at the start of the show. The rest of the show features Leah Nesbitt of Nesbitt’s Nursery in Prescott, WI, and Chef Philip Dorwart of Create Catering and The Dining Studio in Minneapolis.

Leah Nesbitt and Philip Dorwart each love what they do; both are invested in bringing food grown and prepared with care to their customers’ tables.

Philip’s farm in Wadena, MN was damaged by the tornado that touched down there on June 17th, 2010. If you’d like to help, you can volunteer through the Red Cross or make a donation to the Wadena Tornado Relief Fund.

You can also help support Minnesota Cooks here.

Original Article

This is the first in a series of episodes featuring a chef and farmer relationship highlighted at the 8th annual Minnesota Cooks event, which will take place at the State Fair on Tuesday, August 31st.

Doug Peterson, President of the Minnesota Farmers Union, and Jill Grunewald, Assistant Program Manager at Food Alliance Midwest, talk about Minnesota Cooks at the start of the show. The rest of the show features Paul Otten, who manages Natura Farms in Marine on St. Croix, MN, and Chef Donald Gonzalez of Forepaugh’s Restaurant in St. Paul.

Paul Otten and Don Gonzalez share a combined zeal, and work hard for the same goal: to bring the most nutritious and delicious food to consumers. And, we all get to benefit!

Original Article

In mid-May, the Where the Wild Things Are event hosted by Slow Food Minnesota took place at the Ralph Lentz Farm in Lake City, just a stone’s throw away from Lake Pepin on the Minnesotan side of the lake. Over 180 attendees enjoyed gorgeous weather, hikes and nature walks, and a feast consisting of wild foods foraged on the farm, the farm’s grass-fed beef and locally produced beer and wine. The day’s events epitomized the Slow Food mission to be educational, focus on food, and provide an opportunity for conversation with others who are interested in sustainably produced food.

Please note the following corrections:
-This is the 3rd year this event has been held on the Lentz farm (in the episode I say 2nd year)
-Ron Huff was chair of Slow Food MN for 10 years (in the episode I say 17 years)

See pictures from this event here.

Original Article

Three outreach programs at the University of Minnesota recently teamed up to launch a program to teach North Minneapolis high school students about cooking, nutrition, and running a restaurant business. I visited the state of the art test kitchen where they were preparing sample menus for a tasting panel in mid-May to talk to the program administrators and some of the students about piloting the class.
[podcast]http://www.localiciousradio.com/podcast/UROC.mp3[/podcast]

Original Article

On May 1st, I attended an event called “Grasping the Nettle” at Moonstone Farm, located in western Minnesota. Richard Handeen and Audrey Arner, the couple who own the farm, converted it from a conventional farm to a perennial polyculture. They planted many trees, including fruit trees, and other woody species of plants, and raise grass-fed beef. The Handeens continue to learn as they farm at Moonstone, and in turn, pass that knowledge on to visitors.

At the event in early May, Audrey and some volunteer assistants led a group of people around the wooded areas of the farm to learn about and forage for wild greens. We then prepared what we found and created a delicious meal that included nettle pasta, salad, dandelion fritters, fiddlehead ferns and a special Italian soup called Spazatti (see recipe below) taught to us by Audrey’s mom, Mary Jane Arner. It was an informative, and memorable, experience.

Original Article

Last week I visited Steven and Jodi Ohlsen Read at Shepherd’s Way Farms. We spoke about how they became sheep dairy farmers, some of the things they discovered along the way, including helpful discoveries and humorous obstacles, and how they became award-winning cheesemakers. You might have seen Steven selling their cheese, sausage and wool products at the Mill City Farmer’s Market, taken a cheesemaking class with Jodi at the farm, or you might be a member of their CSA. If you subscribe to their email newsletter, you’ll get personal and touching accounts of life on the farm, and learn about Farm Haven LLC, a slow money vehicle to help them continue to grow their business.

As you listen to this episode, you’ll hear the Reads confirm the importance of their mission statement: At Shepherd’s Way Farms, we believe that there is a way to live that combines hard work, creativity, respect for the land and animals, and a focus on family and friends. We believe the small family-based farm still has a place in our society. Everything we do, everything we make, is in pursuit of this goal.

Original Article

This story originally aired on the KFAI Evening News on Monday, April 19th. This is a shorter version of the first segment of Episode #4 of Localicious. Fresh is playing at the Riverview Theater 4/20-4/22 at 7 pm, followed by panel discussions featuring the director and representatives from local food-related organizations.[podcast]http://www.localiciousradio.com/podcast/Freshnewsfnl.mp3[/podcast]

Original Article

Almost a year ago, Ana Sofia Joanes debuted her documentary, Fresh, at the Riverview Theater in Minneapolis. This week, Ana and Fresh are back at the Riverview, and a number of related events are going on in the Twin Cities (see the Local Food Events page or the Fresh website for details). In February, I interviewed Ana as she was in the planning stages for the theatrical debut of Fresh, including this week’s events in Minneapolis. She shared her thoughts on making a documentary, being part of the local food movement, starting a grassroots campaign, following your passion and taking action.

The second part of the show features interviews with Hillary Lehr of the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) and Nolan Morice of the local non-profit organization Substance. They’re teaming up for an art contest to Take Action Against Destructive Agribusiness and encourage contestants to explore the question, “What is the problem with palm oil?”, as it relates to local businesses that import palm oil into the U.S. and use it in their products.

Original Article

This aired on the KFAI Evening News on Thursday, April 8, 2010. This is a shorter (less than 5 minutes) version of the Chef to Chef story I covered in Episode #3 of Localicious.
[podcast]http://www.localiciousradio.com/podcast/CtoCKFAI.mp3[/podcast]

Original Article