Farmers' Market, Fall Feast offer homegrown fare
Posted by Judy Riley on Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2006
Event Date/Time: Thursday, Nov. 9, 2006 2:00 pm
End Date/Time: Thursday, Nov. 9, 2006
Location: Oyate Hall, Food Service building
Mark your calendars for the Pride of the Prairie Farmers’ Market and Fall Feast coming to the University of Minnesota, Morris on Thursday, Nov. 9. The public is invited to enjoy homegrown food and entertainment.
The Farmers’ Market will be held from 2-4:30 p.m. in Oyate Hall of the UMM Student Center. Purchase locally grown food, chat with local farmers and see some of the organizations that help to improve the availability of local foods in our community. The Farmers’ Market will feature locally grown honey, bison meat, pancake mix, apples, flax and more.
Economist Ken Meter will present the study, "Finding Food in West Central Minnesota," beginning at 4 p.m. in the UMM Science Auditorium. The study shows that west central Minnesota loses over $1 billion each year - an amount equal to one of every three dollars earned by the region's residents - because farmers and consumers trade with firms that draw wealth out of our communities. Expanding local foods trade is one way to stem these losses, according to the West Central Regional Sustainable Development Partnership (WCRSDP). The study was commissioned by WCRSDP in late 2005 covering 12 counties in west central Minnesota including Big Stone, Chippewa, Douglas, Grant, Kandiyohi, Lac qui Parle, Pope, Renville, Stevens, Swift, Traverse and Yellow Medicine. Meter conducted similar research in northwest and southeast Minnesota as well as regions in other states including Iowa, California and Hawaii.
A Pride of the Prairie Fall Feast, created by Sodexho Campus Services chef Chris Serio, will be served in the Food Service building beginning at 4:45 p.m. The meal will feature fresh ham, braised beef and southwest beans, squash, corn and a build-your-own-apple-split for dessert. While dining on local foods attendees can also enjoy “locally grown” music.
Tickets for the meal can be purchased at the door or in the Student Center lobby from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. November 6 – 9. Adult tickets are $10, off-campus student and children’s tickets are $6, children under five dine free.
Seeds for the first local foods initiative on a University of Minnesota campus were sown in 2001. Today the program is one of the longest running local foods efforts in Minnesota higher education.
This event is made possible thanks to the University of Minnesota, Morris Foodies, UMM's Service learning program (funded by a Learn and Serve American Grant), MPIRG, and our Pride of the Prairie partners. Pride of the Prairie Pride of The Prairie is a collaborative effort of the University of Minnesota (the Morris campus, West Central Minnesota Regional Sustainable Development Partnership, West Central Research and Outreach Center, and University of Minnesota Extension), Sodexho Campus Services, Land Stewardship Project, Sustainable Farming Association, Morris Prairie Renaissance, Pomme de Terre Food Coop, Prairie Renaissance Cultural Alliance, area farmers and the Upper Minnesota River Valley community.
The University of Minnesota, Morris is a founding partner in the Pride of the Prairie Local Foods Initiative. Through work with Pride of the Prairie, people at UMM:
• eat great food grown by people we know.
• spend our food dollars locally - investing in family farms and our prairie home.
• strengthen a sustainable local food system, with regional and national impact.
• reduce the miles our food travels – for fresh nutritious food and energy savings.
• study, work, and learn in partnerships that build community.
To learn more about UMM's local foods and other green campus initiatives, visit Green Campus .
UMM’s spring local foods dinner and farmers market will be held March 1, 2007.
Download poster as an 11.5 MB pdf file.
