Heart Work

03/08/22 • 45 min

In this episode of Nourish by MN350, we dive into the story of Frogtown Farm, a food hub in the Frogtown neighborhood of St. Paul. This five-and-a-half-acre urban regenerative farm is uniquely located on a public park. MN350 volunteer Mary Clare McAleer interviews Chris Mann, the farm manager at Frogtown Farm, to discuss how the farm came to be, their conservation practices, and how the non-profit is deeply rooted in the community.

In 2013, residents of the Frogtown neighborhood recognized the lack of green space compared to the rest of St. Paul and the lack of access to healthy, nutritious food. The community members lobbied to get a privately-owned 13-acre lot turned into a public park, including this farm. Since its inception, Frogtown Farm has utilized best management practices to revitalize the urban soil. Today, there is still a great emphasis on regenerating the soil and protecting natural resources. The farm is a space for knowledge sharing and fostering community, from the crops they produce to the partnerships they build as they expand access to fresh produce.

For more information on Frogtown Farm check them out on instagram @frogtownfarm or their website https://www.frogtownfarm.org/.

For more information on Frogtown Farm check them out on instagram @frogtownfarm or their website https://www.frogtownfarm.org/.

Previous Episode

Changing the Course of a Neighborhood

In this episode of Nourish by MN350, volunteers Shannon Lippke and Jeff Diamond share their interview with three board members of the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute (EPNI) - Dean Dovolis, Karen Clark, and Cassandra Holmes. For years, EPNI has fought on behalf of the East Phillips neighborhood, a majority BIPOC community with a history of rampant air and soil pollution. EPNI has proposed converting a dormant 7.6 acre warehouse into an Indoor Urban Farm facility, featuring hydroponic and aquaponic food production spaces, as well as affordable housing units, a job training center, a solar array, and more. However, the City has proposed to demolish the building and use the site for a new water yard facility. Our guests discuss life in East Phillips, the history of environmental racism the neighborhood has endured, and the benefits the Indoor Urban Farm project could bring.

Efforts are underway within the Minneapolis City Council to pause the city’s water yard project in East Phillips, known as the Hiawatha Expansion Project. All supporters of EPNI should contact the members of the Minneapolis City Council and the mayor and ask them to support East Phillips and the Indoor Urban Farm Project as soon as possible. Here’s a message prompt with City Council contact info to help!

To learn more about EPNI, visit their website at https://www.eastphillipsneighborhoodinstitute.org/, or find them on facebook at www.facebook.com/eastphillipsneighborhood.

To support EPNI in their legal efforts, you can donate to their GoFundMe campaign.

Find the full transcript here.

Support the show (https://mn350action.org/become-a-member/?sourceid=1021363)

Next Episode

Nurturing Community and Healing the Land

In this episode of Nourish by MN350 , architect of the Headwaters Community Food and Water Bill (HF1332/SF1580), Marita Bujold interviews community and food justice organizer, Zoe Holloman to learn about the leadership role that the Midwest Farmers of Color Collective (MFCC) is playing to shape the just, responsive, and sustainable food and farming system we need as a foundation for resilient regional economies.

The Midwest Farmers of Color Collective emerged in early 2020 from conversations beginning in 2018 when a group of BIPOC famers gathered to discern their needs and the role they could play together. During their brief existence, Zoe and her colleagues at MFCC have organized many social, economic, and political opportunities for BIPOC farmers to meet the challenges of the time.

In this conversation it becomes clear that the Collective’s work of nurturing community and healing the land is grounded in the understanding that our path forward must be defined by racial, economic, and environmental justice. Listeners will find themselves accepting Zoe’s gracious invitation to share the work to make that future possible.

Find the full transcript here.

Nourish by MN350 - Heart Work

Transcript

Ep19 Heartwork

Tuesday, March 8th, 2022 • 45:18

SPEAKERS

Sarah Riedl, Chris Mann, Mary Clare McAleer

Chris Mann 00:00

We describe ourselves as regenerative. There's a farmer Chris Newman, who runs Sylvanaqua Farms in Virginia; I heard him on a different podcast talk about regenerative agriculture, as first and foremost a different mindset and a different approach to growing food. He doesn't view his farm as a chance to grow food; it's a chance t