Eat the News in Bites: Local Food Community News
Every 13th of the month, we’ll recap some of what’s happening in the local food community and how you can get involved. Some of it might make you joyous, some of it might make you pissed, but all of it shows the resilience of Minnesota food folks working toward a future that nourishes all people, all beings, and the entirety of our living planet.
What’s in this edition?
The fight to protect wild rice against Line 3 construction
Gatherings Cafe and Chef Brian Yazzie bringing joy and justice to indigenous elders through indigenous foods
Dream of Wild Health 2021 indigenous food shares and candymaking class
MN350’s new podcast Nourish featuring an episode with Dream of Wild Health’s Jessika Greendeer and former UMN Native American Medicine Gardens Caretaker Francis Bettelyoun.
Approval of Line 3 Pipeline threatens sacred wild rice habitat
Construction is set to begin on Enbridge Energy’s Line 3 pipeline replacement and expansion project, after it received final permits in late November. The new pipeline will send over 750,000 barrels of oil per day through ecologically sacred watersheds in Northern Minnesota.
Besides reinforcing our region’s deadly reliance on fossil fuels, the new pipeline directly threatens the ecosystem of manoomin, or wild rice, one of only six foods recognized as Slow Food Presidia in North America.
Manoomin grows in the shallow water of lakes and streams in Northern Minnesota, and is particularly susceptible to habitat disruptions. The plant is central to the food sovereignty of the Anishinaabe people, and the new Line 3 has the potential to devastate manoomin waters.
Anishinaabe water protectors and allies are currently taking direct action against Enbridge along the pipeline route.
What you can do
Join Water Protectors up north
Learn more at: https://welcomewaterprotectors.com/
From Honor the Earth: “Standing invitation from Winona: Meet daily at 10 am; no special skills or training needed, no “white saviorism” please, mask up and adhere to Covid protocol, please:
Water Protector Welcome Center
59057 Great River Rd.
Palisade MN 56469
(This is Honor the Earth land)”
Volunteer to Watch the Line
Volunteers help legally monitor construction along the Line 3 route and report any violations to the appropriate agencies.
Learn more and sign up for upcoming trainings on the Watch the Line website.
Donate to MN350’s donation drive for front line resistance
Find more information here.
Donate to Honor the Earth here
To learn more about Line 3 and the danger it poses, check out Stop Line 3 and Honor the Earth. Social media tags: @honortheearth and @stopline3pipeline
Gatherings Cafe nourishes the Twin Cities Indigenous community through the Feeding Our Elders initiative
Gatherings Cafe was forced to close to the public in the spring, due to the COVID pandemic. But that has not stopped the cafe, and its executive chef Brian Yazzie, from feeding the community.
Since April, Gatherings Cafe has been providing free, healthy meals to community Indigenous elders. They provide meals five days a week, and serve an average of 150 elders each day. The meals are made with at least 50% indigenous ingredients—in the last few weeks, meals have featured braised bison, Nett Lake wild rice, and roasted heirloom squash. Chef Brian Yazzie was recently named one of Thrillist’s “2020 Local Heroes” and this initiative was one of the first national programs to be awarded a Slow Food USA National Resilience Fund grant.
Connect with Gatherings Cafe and Chef Yazzie
Gatherings Cafe is a project of the Minneapolis American Indian Center. Learn more about the cafe on their website or their social media pages.
Gatherings Cafe: @gatheringscafe
Chef Brian Yazzie: @Yazzie_TheChef
How you can contribute
Pow Wow Grounds coffee shop, down the street from Gatherings Cafe in Minneapolis, is partnering with Minnesota Two-Spirited Society and the Fond Du Lac Urban Office to prepare and deliver 600 meals to community elders and relatives on December 24th.
They are in need of donations for the dinner. You can learn more on Pow Wow Grounds Facebook page. Donations can be made through PayPal to powwowgrounds@gmail.com or Venmo to @powwowgrounds.
Registration is opening for Dream of Wild Health’s 2021 Indigenous Food Shares
From their 30-acre farm in Hugo and their offices in Minneapolis, Dream of Wild Health is helping the greater Twin Cities Native American community reconnect with the land through farm training, seed saving, youth programming, and more. DWH’s Indigenous Food Share program is a CSA-style membership program that provides community members with healthy, indigenous foods grown on the DWH farm. There are full and half shares available, as well as part-season shares.
What you need to know
Registration for 2021 Indigenous Food Shares opens on January 4th, 2021. If you do not want to purchase a share for yourself, consider sponsoring a full or partial share for someone else in the community through DWH’s Sponsor-a-Share program! Learn more about the shares and sign up here.
Dream of Wild Health is also hosting an online Hominy Candy Demo coming up on December 16th at 6:00 pm! Elena Terry, founder of Wild Bearies indigenous catering company, will demonstrate how to prepare hominy maple candy. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. You can learn more here and register here.
Learn more about Dream of Wild Health on their website and on social media. Twitter @DreamWildHealth and Instagram @dreamofwildhealth.
New Podcast Alert: Nourish by MN350
MN350’s Food Systems Team recognizes that the health of our climate is inseparable from the health of our food system. They’ve launched a brand new podcast, Nourish, which highlights the “visionary leaders who are creating the regenerative, inclusive, local food economy we need to meet the challenge of climate change”.
What you need to know
If you’re looking for a good place to start listening, check out the episode “I’d call it stewardship”. In this episode, guests Jessika Greendeer from Dream of Wild Health, and Francis Bettelyoun, former caretaker of the UMN Native American Medicine Gardens, discuss the term “regenerative agriculture”, indigenous ways of growing food, and the importance of holistic land stewardship in our collective healing.
Episodes are released every two weeks, and can be found on MN350’s website or through any of your favorite podcatchers!
Learn more about MN350’s Food Systems team and how you can get involved here.
Follow MN350 on social media: Twitter @MN_350 and Instagram @mn350.climatemovement
About Lydia Fermanich
Lydia's relationship with the food system is grounded in communications and environmental stewardship. She has worked in training new sustainable farmers, food access, nutritional outreach, and urban gardening. Lydia is also an avid cross-country skier and outdoor recreationist.