As our executive director, Sophia Lenarz-Coy, recently noted, we continue to live in unprecedented times. More Minnesotans received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funds in 2023 than in any year since 2016, and food shelf visits continue to break state records. As we consider these troubling trends and look ahead to 2025, it’s important to […] Read more
Lived Experiences Have the Power to Shape Public Policy
How Individuals and Their Stories Create Community-Informed Solutions We believe that in order to solve food insecurity and hunger, solutions must come directly from the people living closest to the issue. People like Lisa, who is turning her experience navigating the emergency food system in Minnesota into advocacy work that helps others walking in similar […] Read more
A Note From Sophia
As we close out 2024 and look ahead to the new year, I am struck that we continue to live through unprecedented times. Unprecedented. Wasn’t that the most overused buzzword of 2020? And yet I use it now to reflect on this past year as well. When we look at food needs across our state, […] Read more
How Our AgriSolar Farm Is Supporting Farmers Like Lillian
We continue to be excited about the potential of our pilot project exploring AgriSolar, the practice of farming under and around solar panels, and how this practice can help expand land access for emerging farmers and increase access to affordable, long-term land leases. The Food Group is currently piloting this project at our AgriSolar farm […] Read more
The Emerging Farmers Conference Supports Local Growers & Producers
We believe everyone deserves access to nutritious, culturally familiar foods, and a big part of that equation includes supporting the growers who produce those foods in order to build a more equitable food system for all. The Food Group’s farm programs do just that by providing land and resources for farmers to learn sustainable practices, […] Read more
