The North Circle Project, now it its second year, is aimed at promoting organic and sustainable farming by opening doors to new markets for locally grown fruit and vegetables. Farms form the cornerstone of our rural communities, and by strengthening the rural farm economy, we increase food security, preserve the character and viability of our rural communities, practice good stewardship the land and put good healthy food on family table. The North Circle Project seeks to build a collaborative community of organic growers around a new business venture: a state and organically certified kitchen and processing facility for making a line of frozen, canned or baked foods to be marketed locally at food cooperatives and other retail outlets.
Want to get involved? WEI is also seeking local fruit and vegetable growers, interested consumers or buyers, or anyone with related expertise to get on board with the project. Contact Katie Zerwas for more info at 651.583.0705 or email Katie at northcircle@w-e-i.org If you would like to join our mailing list for the North Circle Newsletter, click here for electronic registration.
WHAT WILL THE NORTH CIRCLE PROJECT DO FOR YOU?
*Assist local farmers in transitioning some of their fields or starting to grow organically certified produce
*Perform market research analyses to help local farmers create the best products with the best value
*Write a business plan and feasibility study for a proposed state certified kitchen and processing house serving area
farmers interested in adding value-added products to their small business ventures
*Collaborate with farmers and investors to make the processing facility a reality
*Create a North Circle brand that area farmers can use to market their products with a family signature
*Assist local organic growers with marketing and distribution
*Organize community members in support of the project, bringing consumers and producers closer together, renewing rural community life
CHALLENGES TO AGRICULTURE IN EAST CENTRAL
Ever heard that farming is the best way to make a small fortune, provided that you start with a large one? Our nation's farmers earned less producing crops in 2005 than they did in 1969, even though productivity had doubled. The biggest losses are in the traditional agricultural states, including Minnesota. In the two decades from 1985 to 2005, land in farms decreased 9.5% in Minnesota, adding up to a loss of 2,900,000 acres of farmland. This farmland is imperative to our present and future food security. The number of farms decreased by 17% in the same period of time, amounting to a net loss of 16,400 farms. In Chisago County and seven surrounding counties in Minnesota, a staggering 64% of farms suffered net losses. Where is the money we spend on food going, if not to farmers? In 2005, farmers made an average of 22 cents for every dollar spent on food. That is down from 33 cents in 1970 (according to the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service). Processing, marketing and distribution claim the remaining 88 cents of the food dollar.
BUY LOCAL CAMPAIGNS
Local growers face numerous challenges when marketing their products, one of which is a lack of small-scale local infrastructure that would allow them to reach new markets. The North Circle Project would help solve that problem by enabling growers to work together to create new value added products. Our project will add organic produce and products to an already emerging St. Croix Falls Buy Fresh Buy Local campaign that has captured the interest of a growing number of consumers.
WHY GO ORGANIC?
The North Circle Project is based on fastest growing agricultural market and one that is still available to small family farms working in collaboration with one another. This is the market for organically certified produce and value-added products.
Organic foods are grown without synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers that may not only be harmful to the health of farmers, consumers and the environment, but are also extremely expensive to buy. Organic inputs, such as manure, compost, and labor, are all things a family farmer does not need to pay for, which helps to keep the farm’s expenses low.Organic foods also fetch a price premium of 25% to 200% more than conventionally grown foods, which means higher profits for the grower.Lower costs and higher profits means higher overall earnings for small family farms.
According to John E. Ikerd, Professor Emeritus of Agricultural Economics, University of Missouri Columbia:
“Organic farmers do not have to become a part of the industrialized food system. Organic farmers can join with other small farmers in developing an alternative food system that can coexist with, and someday displace, the global-industrial, corporately-controlled food system. Independent organic farmers may well lose the battle to keep industrial agribusiness from dominating the mass production and mass distribution of organic foods. But, smaller, organic farmers can still compete effectively for the fast-growing and profitable organic niche markets – both locally and internationally. And more important, small-scale organic farming can be carried out by means that are ecologically and socially sustainable over the long run, whereas, industrial organic production cannot. The sustainable agriculture movement offers the best hope for the future success of small-scale, independent organic producers." (John Ikerd, “The Architecture of Organic Production”)
NORTH CIRCLE PROJECT STAFF
Jacquelyn Zita, Project Supervisor. Prominent women’s studies scholar, educator and farmer. Jacquelyn is a professor at the University of Minnesota and former Chair of the Department of Women’s Studies. She has an undergraduate degree in Biology and Chemistry and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Washington University. She is locally known as “The Apple Lady” on Amador Hill and has managed the Amador Hill Organically Certified Apple Orchard (now run by WEI) for nearly a decade. Jacquelyn brings to the North Circle project her experience as an educator and administrator, plus her extensive knowledge in biology, environmental health issues, environmental justice studies, and organic farming. Jacquelyn is also Vice President of the Friends of Wild River State Park.
Katie Zerwas, Program Coordinator. Katie is an Americorps VISTA volunteer with experience in sustainable agriculture and community organizing. She first got involved with WEI as a student at Organic Farm School. In 2005 she worked as a farm intern for Many Hands Organic Farm in Plainview, MN, and in 2007 she worked as a WEI farm intern. She has worked as a community organizer and volunteer coordinator on several progressive campaigns, and completed training at Camp Wellstone in 2004. She has a B.A. in American Studies from Carleton College in Northfield, MN.
NORTH CIRCLE ADVISORY BOARD:
Bud Markhart, Professor of Horticultural Science at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Markhart teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in environmental physiology, plant propagation, and organic production and is involved with important ongoing research and development in his field. Dr. Markhart is a member of the board of directors for the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture, a member of the Plant Biological Sciences graduate faculty, a member of the Sustainable Agriculture Minor faculty, and an advisor to the Student Organic Farm at the U of M.
Dana Jackson, Associate Director of the Land Stewardship Project (LSP), a Minnesota-based conservation organization, and co-founder of the Land Institute, Dana has a long history of advocacy for sustainable agriculture. Dana has a masters degree in Public Administration from Harvard University and has published several books on sustainable agriculture.
Shereen Naumann, local farmer at Leap of Faith Farm, North Branch, Minnesota.
Collie Graddick, WEI Board Member and North Circle Advisory, an Agricultural Consultant with the MN Department of Agriculture(MDA) managing the MDA/ US Environmental Protection Agency’s Urban Pesticide Educational Initiative program. Formerly a regulatory advisor with MDA Seed, Noxious Weed and Pesticide Regulatory Program, Collie has worked with MDA for 12 years. Previously a County Extension Agent in Auburn, Alabama, and a marketing coordinator at Cargill-Nutrena, Collie earned a BS in Plant Science from Fort Valley State College in Georgia and an MS in Plant and Soil Science from Tuskegee University in Alabama.
William Shafer, an emeritus professor in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Minnesota. His research is focused on the nutritional impact of fruit and vegetable processing.
Calendar (http://www.w-e-i.org/calendar) WEI Farm Program Events in 2008
• Sun. Feb. 24 at 1pm, North Circle Project General Meeting, Scout & Morgan Books, Cambridge, MN
• Mon. Feb. 25 at 6pm, North Circle Project General Meeting, at WEI
• Sat. March 8, 8:30am-3pm, Chisago County Master Gardeners Spring Gardening Bonanza, Abundant Life Church, North Branch, MN
• Sun. March 9, 12-4pm, WEI at CSA Fair at Let’s Cook in Minneapolis
• Thursday, March 13 at 6pm, WEI at St. Croix Falls Farm to Community Meeting, St. Croix Falls High School
• Saturday, March 15, 8am-4pm, WEi at International Women’s Day Celebration, Coffman Memorial Union, U of MN
• Saturday, March 15, 10am, WEI at City Center Market Local Foods Day, Cambridge, MN
• Saturday March 22, 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 Red Ball Party at WEi
• Saturday, March 29, 9am-2:30pm, WEI at Community Garden Spring Resource Fair, First Christian Church, Minneapolis
• Saturday, April 19, 1-3pm, WEi at Seward Coop CSA Fair
• May 3-4, WEI at Living Green Expo, Minnesota State Fair Grounds, St. Paul
• Monday, June 18 , First class of WEI's Organic Farm School
SUPPORT FOR THE NORTH CIRCLE PROJECT
The following grants have been awarded to WEI to support the North Circle Project:
*2006-2009 Three-year project grant from Americorps VISTA through the
Initiative Foundation
*2007 Center for Urban and Regional Affairs Community Assistantship Program
grant (CURA/CAP)
*20007 East Central Initiative Foundation matching grant.
In-Kind Assistance
*Small Business Development Center is offering assistance in feasibility analysis and business planning.
*Agriculture Utilization Research Institute has made a generous donation of time to assist with product development.