Communities prosper when farmers prosper
Carol Stender
Date Modified: 12/10/2009 10:46 AM
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Agri News staff writer
WADENA, Minn. -- David Everts thinks that a community can't be healthy without profitable farmers living around it.
Everts and others are working in Wadena to make that happen starting with a shared community kitchen.
The kitchen will be ready once it receives a necessary state inspection, Everts said. The inspection should occur in the next few days, but interested canners and bakers have already been talking to Everts about the kitchen use.
Several have told Everts they want to can green beans, carrots and more. The produce is locally grown and, once produced in the state-inspected kitchen using state guidelines, can be sold to retail markets or to cafes, hospitals, nursing homes and schools.
Discussions for the food system started four years ago with Agriculture Alternatives. Farmers gathered to discuss what they raised and how they could offer their products to consumers.
The Agriculture Alternatives includes a collaboration of agency involvement from the University of Minnesota Extension Service, the Sustainable Farming Association, the Farm Bureau, Farmers Union and more. A non-profit organization, Stimulating Economic Progress, was created. Everts is the organization's executive director.
The Prairie Rivers Market Association is being developed as a local food distribution system.
Through STEP, funding was secured to build the shared kitchen. Contributors include David and Mary Bernauer of Chicago, pledged $50,000 in seed money. It was a heartfelt contribution for David Bernauer because his father managed the Wadena J. C Penney's store where the kitchen is located.
The Community Action Council of Wadena/Ottertail granted $25,000 from economic stimulus fund for program development and the Bremer Foundation approved a $40,000 grant for equipment and remodeling. The Wadena Development Authority also approved a loan extension of $10,000.
STEP hopes to meet three goals through the project. They want to double the disposable income of small growers and food entrepreneurs in the region. They want to offer the opportunity for resorts, restaurants and institutions to use more locally grown foods and they want help food entrepreneurs create small businesses. The business growth can create new full- or part-time jobs, Everts said.
When the kitchen opens, STEP will start creating a new small business incubator for entrepreneurs.
The kitchen is one of several enterprises Everts and his partners, Rowland Joiner and Carol Spearman, have started in Wadena in the J.C. Penney building.
Everts was contacted by Wadena area pastor Del Moen. Moen wanted to start a coffee house he said would be like a community living room. Everts was a natural fit for the job since his business had been establishing coffee houses.
Everts, Joiner and Spearman purchased the building. A coffee house was established that has since been sold to a chef who will reopen it this month as Harvest Thyme Bistro. They established a clothing store in the building that was sold to its manager. The building is home to the Mall of Wadena and features 50 individual merchant booths.
Everts calls himself a social entrepreneur. He's retired and says he can devote his energies to projects. He's not afraid to discuss ideas and says they often lead to productive ventures.