Task force working to better understand food system for poor
By Janet Kubat Willette
jkubat@agrinews.com
Date Modified: 04/29/2010 10:44 AM
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ELGIN, Minn. — Feeding hungry Minnesotans isn't as simple as green beans here and hungry people there.
An entire system needs to work for leftover sweet corn from southeast Minnesota to reach hungry people across the state.
It's the job of the Feeding Minnesota Task Force to find what's available and to recommend how that food can make its way from farms and farmers markets to food shelves and ultimately hungry Minnesotans. Their report is due to the Legislature in November.
Pam Benike of Elgin, a member of the task force, arranged a southeast Minnesota tour for fellow members on April 8. They visited three farms and three processors.
Benike, a farmer and general manager of the Southeast Minnesota Food Network, said it was important for task force members to hear from farmers and processors firsthand. All the task force members know their part of the food production system, but they don't necessarily understand the entire system, she said.
Her work has given her that insight, which she shared by taking fellow task force members on tour. They visited Fairview Farm where Mark and Laurie Timm of Altura told them they seldom have leftover produce. If they do, they either donate to Channel 1, which has a refrigerated truck parked next door at the Rochester Farmers Market on Saturday or take the produce home. Unused produce can be returned to the field to fertilize the soil, Mark Timm said.
At Lakeside Foods in Plainview, task force members wanted to know if fields of sweet corn or peas are left unharvested. General manager Bill Arendt told them they generally don't pass fields of peas or sweet corn that are well taken care of.
They do generate dented cans and two to three truckloads of dented cans are donated to Channel 1 every year, he said.
Benike said a misconception exists that a lot of Minnesota Grown food is going to waste. That's not the case, at least not in her experience. Farmers, particularly those who have been in the business for awhile, know their market demand and plant what they'll be able to sell. Vast quantities of Minnesota Grown food isn't going to waste, she said.
However, there is some. Fred Wescott of Wescott Orchards in Elgin said fruit that is suitable for human consumption because of blemishes doesn't enter the retail market. Consumers are picky, he said.
During a tour of his packaging facility, he showed oranges that have a slightly thinner skin. The oranges won't go to a retailer because they will tend to spoil first, but there is nothing wrong with the fruit. Channel 1 picks up and distributes the fruit.
Orchard owners may also pass fruit because the price drops so low it doesn't pay for them to harvest it.
A system could be designed to get the food from the farm to the consumer, but the details would have to be in place, Wescott said. Where would the distribution point be? What day of the week? What time?
Gleaning is an option that was discussed with the Timms, but they are concerned about the liability of having people in their farm fields.
At Burt's Meat and Poultry in Eyota a good-intentioned rule that excludes non-ambulatory cattle from the food chain was discussed. Kyle Burt said it's a waste when an animal with a visible injury, say a broken leg, has to be sent home because he can't legally butcher it.
Assistant Minnesota Department of Agriculture commissioner Robin Kinney said the task force has been asked to address this issue.
Burt then told Vince McCoy, food resource coordinator for Channel Food, to send a truck over to pick up $500 to $600 worth of sliced deli ham that the owner never claimed.
The southeast Minnesota trip was the second taken by members of the Feeding Minnesota Task Force. They also visited a metro area food shelf.