Joel Salatin Coming to Fergus Falls

Renowned sustainable farmer Joel Salatin will speak during afternoon and evening events at Minnesota State Community and Technical College - Fergus Falls on Thursday, March 3. The events, which are open to the public, are sponsored by the college’s Sustainable Food Production program and Communicating for Agriculture.

Salatin is the proprietor of Polyface Farm, a family-run beyond organic, local-market farm in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. His
farming practices are featured in “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” “Food Inc.” and “Fresh” and have earned him world-wide recognition as a leader in the local foods movement.

Salatin now shares his farming philosophy and methods through outreach events, presentations and publications. He is the author several celebrated books on food production, including “You Can Farm,” “Salad Bar Beef,” “Pastured Poultry Profits” and “Holy Cows and Hog Heaven.”

The March 3 program on the Fergus Falls campus includes:

1:30-3 p.m.: Salatin will explain the grass-based polyculture system he stewards at Polyface farm to produce high quality beef, pork, poultry, rabbit, eggs and lumber.

3 - 4:30 p.m.: A panel of farmers will discuss sustainable,nutrient-dense vegetable production.

6:30 p.m.: Salatin’s keynote address will the necessary components of a durable, local food system.

The presentations are open to the public for a $15 suggested donation. Proceeds will be used to fund scholarships for students in M State’s
Sustainable Food Production diploma program.

For more information on the March 3 events, contact Marci King at
218-736-1625 or marci.king@minnesota.edu.

[where: Sustainable Food, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Twin Cities, Minnesota]

Valentine’s Chocolates Done Right

Valentine’s Chocolates Done Right - Dara & Co. - February 2011 - Minnesota

I’m not a chocolate connoisseur, but I do like to nibble on a bit of chocolate, especially when it’s from my sweetheart on St. Valentine’s Day. Of course, I’d enjoy a bar from Rogue Chocolate, but I go bonkers for the intensely flavored and mind-blowingly rich truffles from Legacy Chocolates, made nearby in Menomonie, WI.

The owners of Legacy Chocolates, Mike and Cathy Roberts, are passionate about ingredients. You’ll find high quality local ingredients in their chocolate products, including cultured butter from Hope Creamery and fresh cream from Pride of Main Street Dairy in Sauk Centre. And the cocoa? Legacy uses chocolate made from the Criollo cacao bean produced by small-scale, sustainable farmers in South America.

Their truffles come in boxes of 6, 12, 24, or 48, and you can specify one cocoa intensity (41%, 68%, 85% or 99%), or create an assortment with a few of each. You can go for flavors if you want, such as raspberry or mint, which vary by season. My favorite is the smooth and singular cocoa flavor of their 99% double-chocolate truffle.

You might recognize the name Legacy Chocolates. They used to have a shop in Merriam Park, but that location closed. Their current shop is located in Menomonie, along Chippewa River in western Wisconsin, where they run a small farm complete with Scottish highland beef cattle. If you stop in their shop in Menomonie, you might even be able to order a sandwich made with beef from their farm.

Since there are no preservatives in Legacy Truffles, consume immediately, or refrigerate. And please, if you do refrigerate, allow them to come to room temperature before you dig in—like cheese, they’re better that way.

Legacy Chocolates
632 Broadway St. S.
Menomonie, WI 54751-2456
715-231-2580

[where: Sustainable Food, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Twin Cities, Minnesota]

Twin Cities Sustainability Film Series 2011

Sustainability Film Series 2011 is a collaborative series of films and panel discussions designed to generate awareness, conversation and debate around current issues in sustainability. The Series features local premieres of visionary documentary films that explore sustainability, followed by panel discussions comprised of leading academics, community leaders, and proactive citizens who present and exchange ideas and views on current and local trends in sustainability.

Sustainability Film Series 2011 is a collaborative, multi-venue project that represents a partnership between The Film Society of Minneapolis-Saint Paul, the Bell Museum, the Institute on the Environment (IonE), with support from the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) and Take-Up Productions.

The first film, Milking the Rhino, is Thursday, February 17 at 7pm at the Bell Museum.  

[where: Sustainable Food, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Twin Cities, Minnesota]