Southeast Minnesota Food Network Information and Orders Mailing address |
We’ve designed our ordering system so that with one phone call or email, businesses and organizations have access to hundreds of products from dozens of local producers. 1. Look through the list of products on this website, or call 507.251.9773 to request a list of this week’s highlights. 2. Call or email us to talk about ordering, delivery dates and payment. 3. Think of a food you’ve always wanted to have for your restaurant or grocery store– a specialty cut chicken? A particular flavor of cheese? A pie from a traditional family recipe? We will work closely with you to provide a unique product, just for your business! In the fall of 2001, after many months of consideration, a group of food producers, processors and consumers decided to organize a food network to accomplish together what they were unable to accomplish on their own. Through the generous financial support of the Experiment in Rural Cooperation and the Community Design Center, the network has created a new marketing, sales, distribution and education collaborative that can change the way Southeast Minnesota purchases and consumes food. The opportunities for education are numerous and varied in nature. As the network communicates with producers, processors and consumers, similar needs for education will become evident. The network can then locate the resources and take the necessary steps for addressing those needs. The may involve planning workshops, seminars, discussion groups and field days, or it may mean distributing fact sheets, articles or publications. Board of Directors Pam Benike, Coordinator: 507.251.9773
Eric Grover, G-String Ranch, Plainview, MN: 507.259.8438
Harry Hoch, Hoch Orchards, LaCrescent, MN: 507.643.6329
Kay Clark, St. Charles, MN: 507.932.0575
Larry Gates, Ours for a Short Time, Kellogg, MN: 507.767.3202 • Farmers should receive a price for their product that is an
accurate measure of their input cost and their labor. • The best way to get fair prices is to sell products as directly
as possible to the consumer. • If farmers work together, they can offer sufficient supply to
satisfy the consumers’ needs on a consistent basis. • Consumers should know where their foods come from, how it is produced and what the real costs of food production
are. • Creating relationships based on trust is the key to making our network system successful. Trust needs
to be established at all levels in all the relationships between
the farmers, the coordinator and the consumers. • Maintaining a commitment to sell only high quality food products is one of the elements that will assist in establishing
this trust. • We believe that sustainable food production is in the best interests
of both the farmer and the consumer. The farmer should be following
farming practices that build and enrich the soil so that, in years
and generations to come, the land will continue to provide an
abundance of good food and a profitable livelihood for those who
care for it. The consumer should be assured that the food they
purchase and consume is wholesome, nutritious and safe, and that
it has been produced in a manner that contributes to clean water,
healthy soil and the well-being of the farmers who produce it. |
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