Latino Enterprise Center

I did an interview recently for Wayne Eddy’s show at KYMN Radio in Northfield. First half hour was very much mundane stuff, then we got into the more intricate workings of the Rural Enterprise Center, our strategies and approach, processes and politics associated with the work I do for Main Street Project’s Rural Enterprise Center.

The whole interview is about 2 hours, but it is only after 30 minutes that things get a more articulated representation of the work we are doing to build a regional system that can support a new system for promoting economic development my maximizing the regional assets in the food and agriculture sector.

If you are very interested in what we do, this interview pulls out a lot of material that is hard to get into a document, and although we are working on writing down the whole system in a formal publication, this is a great preview of what will come later.

The Minnesota Food Association is leading the organization of the 5th Immigrant Farming Conference in Saint Paul. Follow this link to the MN Food Association announcement about the conference. Below is the introductory text from MFA’s site.

5th Immigrant and Minority Farmers Conference
FEB 19-20, 2010, St. Paul, MN
Location:  Wilder Foundation
451 Lexington Parkway North near University Av.
This conference focuses on being as relevant as possible for farmers. Farmers are involved in the planning, presentations,
participation and evaluation. The conference is free to farmers and this is only possible with the generous support from sponsor partnerships. Farmers, sponsors & other participants welcome.

I will be presenting on a panel with two other distinguished local leaders of the Northfield area at St. Olaf College’s 10th Annual Globalization and Social Responsibility Conference to take place on February 26 and 27th.

Here is an extract from the schedule on the 27th.

11:30-12:30 p.m.

Panel Discussion: “Immigrant Activism and Empowerment“
The Lion’s Pause, Buntrock Commons

Panelists:
Beth Berry, Tackling Obstacles Raising College Hopes (T.O.R.C.H.), http://northfieldtorch.org/
Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin, http://www.startribune.com/ProjectCluck , Rural Enterprise Center, http://www.ruralec.com/
Janet Lewis Muth, Rice County Growing Up Healthy http://growinguphealthy.org/

There are bigger things to worry about, and they are closing in. Listen to this short story about food, soil, our existence and what it depends on, and then watch the whole homegrown film. After you are done, I hope you will be inspired to do at least two things:

- Plant a garden

- Find a farmer near you to partner with if you have already done this, then

- Become a member and a patron at your local food cooperative