Southeast Minnesota Food Network
Information and Orders
Mailing address
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We’ve designed our ordering system so that with one phone call or email, businesses and organizations have access to hundreds of products from 44 local producers.
1.
Look through the list of products on this website, or call 507.649.0663 to request a faxed list of this week’s highlights.
2.
Call or
email
Todd to talk about ordering, delivery dates and payment.
3.
Think of a food you’ve always wanted to have for your restaurant or grocery store– a specialty cut chicken? A particular flavor of cheese? A pie from a traditional family recipe? We will work closely with you to provide a unique product, just for your business!
In the fall of 2001, after many months of consideration, a group of food producers, processors and consumers decided to organize a food network to accomplish together what they were unable to accomplish on their own. Through the generous financial support of the Experiment in Rural Cooperation and the Community Design Center, the network has created a new marketing, sales, distribution and education collaborative that can change the way Southeast Minnesota purchases and consumes food.
How does the network finance its operations?
The Experiment in Rural Cooperation, a University of Minnesota partnership, and the Community Design Center, of St. Paul, Minn., funded the start-up and staffing costs for the first and second year. Membership fees will cover most of the operational expenses, with the exception of transportation. During the third year, the Experiment in Rural Cooperation will continue funding much of the staffing expense, but the remaining expenses will be covered through usage fees collected on products sold through the network. The fees will be based on a percentage of sales, or in some case, on the service provided.
The opportunities for education are numerous and varied in nature. As the network communicates with producers, processors and consumers, similar needs for education will become evident. The network can then locate the resources and take the necessary steps for addressing those needs. The may involve planning workshops, seminars, discussion groups and field days, or it may mean distributing fact sheets, articles or publications.
Board of Governors
Pam Benike, board chair: 507.932.4352; email pjbenike@uswest.com
Larry Gates, Experiment in Rural Cooperation board representative: 507.767.3202
Ruth Murphy, Community Design Center board representative: 651.228.7073
Arvin Mueske, fruit producers’ board representative: 507.932.4003
Sandy Dietz, vegetable producers’ board representative: 507.932.5225; email londietz@aol.com
Lisa Klein, meat producers’ board representative: 507.896.2345; email lisa@hiddenstream.com
• Farmers should receive a price for their product that is an accurate measure of their input cost and their labor.
• The best way to get fair prices is to sell products as directly as possible to the consumer.
• If farmers work together, they can offer sufficient supply to satisfy the consumers’ needs on a
consistent basis.
• Consumers should know
where their foods come from,
how it is produced and what the real costs of food production are.
•
Creating relationships based on trust
is the key to making our network system successful. Trust needs to be established at all levels in all the relationships between the farmers, the coordinator and the consumers.
• Maintaining a commitment to sell
o
nly high quality food
products is one of the elements that will assist in establishing this trust.
• We believe that sustainable food production is in the best interests of both the farmer and the consumer. The farmer should be following farming practices that build and enrich the soil so that, in years and generations to come, the land will continue to provide an abundance of good food and a profitable livelihood for those who care for it. The consumer should be assured that the food they purchase and consume is wholesome, nutritious and safe, and that it has been produced in a manner that contributes to clean water, healthy soil and the well-being of the farmers who produce it.
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