MINNEAPOLIS, MN. A group of Minneapolis urban farmers have banded together to ask candidates in this year’s municipal elections to support policies that will help grow our increasingly diverse and productive local food economy.
The Minneapolis Urban Farmer's Collaborative has invited candidates for Minneapolis City Council, Parks & Recreation Board, and Mayor to complete a candidate questionnaire to determine where the candidates stand on current policy issues relevant to urban agriculture, including food production on public park lands, on-site vegetable sales for urban producers, and ownership of chickens for small-scale commercial purposes.
Among the members represented in this collaborative are composters, mushroom growers, beekeepers, backyard farmers, and CSA, wholesale, and market farmers. Their operations are scattered across the Twin Cities and represent both for- and non-profit business models.
“The goal of this questionnaire,” says collaborative member Michael Pursell , “is to give voters a better sense of how supportive their candidates are of our city's local food entrepreneurs. We've shown in recent years that our small businesses are making valuable contributions to Minneapolis health, commerce and communities and we think Minneapolis has the potential to be a real leader in urban agriculture. But we need local government to support our work and remove unnecessary barriers to our success."
The questionnaire is already being circulated among this year’s municipal candidates, and completed candidate questionnaires are being posted on the Minneapolis Issues Forum at www.e-democracy.org for public viewing as they become available.
Minneapolis citizens can help grow the local food movement by encouraging candidates from their wards and districts to respond to the questionnaire and by supporting local-food-friendly candidates this November.
CONTACT: Michael Pursell, 651-485-1034
[where: Sustainable Food, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Twin Cities, Minnesota]
