Can you remember that sweet scent of fresh picked tomato on your hands? I cannot wait to immerse myself in that sweet aroma. Although winter clings to us, the Central Minnesota Sustainability Project is ready for the coming season. As a new volunteer with the organization, I have been swept up into the excited conversations. We have been busy talking, planning, and organizing to prepare for the coming season!

This year we hope to initiate governance boards to empower garden members and continue to establish and enhance the work of the organization. These boards will consist of active garden members, and will provide garden members with more responsibility within the decision-making process and ownership of each of our gardens.  If you are a garden member, you should think about getting involved in a governance board.

Another great program that the CMSP is excited about is the Land Stewardship Project. The Land Stewardship Project is another organization that supports sustainable food and agriculture in the area. It has been exciting to engage with the community and continue to know and hear about the interest in people and food.

On that note, today I am heading out to the Sustainability Expo in town. This annual event brings together players and sustainability projects in the area to learn and celebrate the work that we do. I hope I saw you there!

At any rate, continue with your winter resilience! Summer will be here, and fresh, red, sweet, local tomatoes will stain your hands soon enough.

-Lindsay

Come celebrate the harvest with us as we close out the season during this intimate event. The evening will feature a sumptuous dinner, biodynamic and organic wines for sale by the glass (not included in your ticket price), stories from our gardeners and a short film. We will also share our vision for 2013 and introduce a new way to support local food sustainability through our Sustaining Membership program. Nick’s Third Floor Chef Daniel will be on hand to answer your questions about preparing your gourmet dinner, along with CMSP gardeners and our new Executive Director, Autumn Brown! Hear from Nick Barth, owner of Nick’s Third Floor and Certified Sommelier.

Big Fat Italian Harvest Dinner
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Tickets: $20
5:00 Social Hour | 6:00 Dinner
Nick’s Third Floor Restaurant at DB Searles

Space is  limited. Register online now at or call Autumn at  320.356.0369 to get your tickets.

photo credit: su-lin via photopin cc

Autumn has organized at a national level on issues of environmental sustainability, food access, and accessible health care, bringing to her work a particular focus on racial and economic justice. As a strategic planning and organizational development consultant, Ms. Brown has worked with such leaders in the field as We Act for Environmental Justice, Slow Food USA, and the Greenworker Cooperatives. She has developed and facilitated curricula on dismantling racism in the food system, and is a recipient of the Next Generation of Leadership Fellowship through the Center for Whole Communities and the Creative Community Leadership Fellowship through Intermedia Arts.

She shared that she is thrilled to be stepping in at such a critical moment in CMSP’s growth as a visionary leader in sustainable social change and community building here in Central Minnesota. Autumn believes that CMSP is poised to create lasting and inclusive change in our community that lifts up the voices and wisdom of New Americans, indigenous Americans, communities of color, and women.

The hiring of an executive director is a crucial step in the implementation of our strategic plan to build social capital and generate economic opportunity through the development of sustainable food systems in the St. Cloud area.

A huge thank you to our many donors and supporters who have made this hire possible. Please join us in giving Autumn a very warm welcome!

~Katrina Pierson
CMSP Board Chair

Jeannette Bineham

Ann Cofell

Emily Esch

Ellen Kearns

Connie VonKorff

Faith Haws

LuBell Kendall

John and Linda Peck

Maureen & Jerry McCarter

Barb Carlson

Lucy Bauer

Jeanne Waltour

Andy and Kathy Doom

Emily Bezdicek and Dana Omann,

Bremer Bank

Carol Kelly

John & Katrina Pierson

Hands Across the World

Mindy Pierson

Lynn Engman

Ed Lalor & Paula Tompkins

Teri Estrem

Tony Goddard & Susan McGuire

Brenda Braulick

Tom & Dede Leither

Randy and Carla Johnson

Diane Veale-Jones

Bruce Rowen

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

Emily Esch

Jerry Hengel and Mary Ness

Mike and Nancy Miller

Ron and Myrna Ohmann

Donna Kuhl

Charles and Suzanne Rodell

Karen Petron-Broda

Ruth Weichman

We also thank the following businesses/organizations/individuals for their in-kind support:

Steve’s Excavating

City of St. Cloud

John Hooper

Leo Klisch

Pristine Environmental

CentraCare Health System Foundation

Common Ground CSA (College of St. Benedict)

Catholic Charities

John Kruger

SCSU Community Garden (Tracy Ore)

Sauk Rapids-Rice Middle and High Schools

Friends Plant Sale

Bailey Nursery

MN Horticultural Society MN Green Program

Wendy Hime

John and Susie Muldowney

Lori Schoborg

Check out their website for more information.

See you at Market!

11:30 a.m.   Dr. David Kroska- Live Well: Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability

Dr. Kroska was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, and has been a practicing
OBGYN physician for over 30 years in St. Cloud. As founder and
Physician Director of the LIFE Program at CentraCare, he has positively
improved the lives of many Central Minnesota residents. His professional
interest in wellness matches his personal commitment to healthy living. He
is an avid organic gardener, founding ACME Tomato, a micro-business
promoting tomato, pepper and eggplant transplants. His wife of 31 years,
Susan, is an inspired cook who enjoys baking artisan whole grain breads
in the wood-fired oven David made. His free time is spent with his wife
and their eight children (seven daughters and one son) in their family
garden and apple orchard.

12:45   David Abazs- VICTUS Farms: Growing Renewable Fuel and Food   

As a farmer, Senior Fellow and Endowed Chair in Agriculture at University
of Minnesota Duluth, David is a leader in increasing the percentage of
food that is produced regionally, and modeling how the Lake Superior
bioregion can map out their own pathway. As a member of the VICTUS
Farms Design Team, Abazs led the partnership between the City of Silver
Bay and UMD’s Center for Sustainable Community Development to build
an 8,600 square foot facility that houses a self contained food and energy
generating ecosystem. David is owner of Round River Farm &
Renewables LLC and Financial Services LLC as well as a non-profit,
Shalom Seed Sanctuary, in Finland, MN. His farm is solar and wind
powered using an intensive cropping system and provides educational
opportunities for local and international delegations. David’s family’s
ongoing quest is to “live simply so that others may simply live.”

1:45  Dr. John Abraham-Climate Change: What Do We Really Know?

Dr. Abraham is a Professor of Thermal Sciences at the University of
St. Thomas. His research areas include renewable power
development and oceanographic temperature measurements. He has
been an active public speaker on the dangers of climate change. Dr.
Abraham formed the Climate Science Rapid Response Team which
consists of approximately 150 of the world’s best climate scientists.
Their mission is to improve communication between scientists and the
larger public. He became well known in the field of climate science
after his public debate with climate denier Christopher Monckton.
That debate received international attention and was covered in the
US, Europe, and Australia.

The Expo runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m at SCSU’s Halenbeck Hall. With over 70 exhibitors, free sustainable, locally-sourced food and the chance to pet a real live yak, this year’s expo is sure to be an exciting experience for the entire family!

Benefits include:

Here are a few of my food film and book favorites.

• Food, Inc.: It will change your life. “You’ll never look at food the same again.”
• Fresh: A documentary by Sofia Joanes featuring Michael Pollan, among others.
• King Corn: Two friends move to the corn belt to plant an acre of the nation’s most grown grain, and then follow it into the food supply.
• Eating Animals: Jonathon Safron Foer puts an interesting spin on the ethics of eating animals.
• Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: Barbara Kingsolver and her family spend a year consuming only that which is produced locally.
• The Omnivore’s Dilemma: Michael Pollan reflects on the moral ramifications of our culture and eating habits.

What food related literature and/or films do you recommend?

We are stoked about our new space. But more importantly, we’re overjoyed that you are here.

Make sure to visit often as we begin to add more inf0 on the 2012 growing season and the many ways for you to get involved with our growing organization.

Check out our site on Facebook if you haven’t already…..and let us know what you’d like to see on our new virtual home.

Cheers!

Katrina Pierson
Board Chair