As more people are looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint, they’re finding decreasing food miles can make an immediate impact. There’s a simple way to focus on eating local- cooking up a 100 mile meal!

Whatever lens you look at local food through- food miles, local economy, food waste, ecology, soil health, humane animal care, climate crisis, community building, nutritional content or simply TASTE- local food wins. Hands Down. Hands in the ground.  

Let’s savor the ideas of “Growing Your Own + Knowing Your Farmer” as a two tined approach to digging in and eating more local.

Forks in the Dirt

By the Numbers

Figuring out food miles can be a little shocking at first. It is estimated the average item you pick up from any grocery store has traveled around 1,500 miles before you find it on a shelf. Think of different common foods you buy if you pick up around the Twin Cities Metro Area:

• Raspberries from Mexico- 2,000 miles
• Garlic from China- 5,000 miles
  (90% of garlic comes from China)
• Oranges from Florida- 1,800 miles
• Avocados from California- 2,000 miles

Now do that for each item.
Every time you shop.
You can see how quickly just the food miles add up.

In Hope Jahren’s 2020 book, The Story of More: “How We Got to Climate Change and Where to Go from Here” she talks about the many ways we have accelerated climate change. She lists buying locally, along with driving less and opting for less meat as solid options for living a more sustainable lifestyle.

Local Location

Did you know Minnesota’s in-state food systems offer ample ways to bring together entire meals from under a 100-mile circumference? We are truly blessed to experience the best of both worlds; thriving urban areas with top shelf art, medical and educational resources while nestled right up to lush farmland.

Our unique location, coupled with a meaningful resurgence of small scale family farms have recently opened up even more local food options. There is all this food surrounding us just waiting for us to dig in!

Digging In

There’s no better time to start practicing the 100 Mile Meal than at the Holidays. When you’re taking extra time and care to serve family favorites it make sense to show the love not only to those gathering at the table with you, but also to the land that grew the food. Your local food purchases also show that love to those that grew the food.

Farmers Markets

The White Bear Lake Winter Farmers Markets are a great way to gather hyper-local foods for your family- especially those holiday meals. We’re partnering with 20 different local farmers and craft food producers to bring you options for everything from the turkey, to the potatoes and apple pie! With monthly markets in November, December and January we bring local food into the winter even here in Minnesota. Even during Covid we’re finding ways to gather together, safely distanced to bring our neighbors good real food. Follow the Facebook Event for up to date information.

Choosing Local Food

I believe strongly that adding in more small-scale family farms can have a lasting impact on so many of our ecological and economic issues. For more information, check out my Local Food for Thought article. If you’d like to get a peek into my local food journey’s winding road, check out Springing into Local Food.

You could also take the pledge at Local Food is Essential. This is a campaign in MN + WI giving people resources on why + how to buy local.

If you’re interested in a step by step overview of Minnesota Local food practices, you should check out “Local Food: Where to Find it, How to Buy it”. Developed by MISA in cooperation with our many partner organizations and beautifully designed by the Renewing the Countryside folks, this book steps you through everything from finding a nearby farmers’ market, ordering through a network of nearby farmers, to freezing summer produce for winter eating.

I’ll also give a shout out to MN GROWN for all they do to promote access to local food, and to support our farmers. They have a great searchable online database for farmers markets, or search by product.

As we gear up for the holiday season, please consider thinking more about the food miles attached to what’s on your menu. I bet you’ll be able to taste (and feel) the difference at the table.

If you have favorite ways to eat more local food, let me know – there’s always more to learn on the back country roads of eating local.

Dig In,

Michelle

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Shop Local, Eat Local + Healthy!

We can all use a little health boost after the Holidays, right! Bonus if we’re feasting on food grown close to home. Yes, even in January Minnesotan’s can enjoy local food. Like fresh greens, locally and humanely raised meats, fresh eggs and cheese- along with local honey, storage vegetable crops, breads, soups, and our furthest sourced food: wild Alaskan caught salmon!

Thanks to our neighbor farmers using high tunnels, greenhouses and indoor lights we can enjoy fresh food through the Winter. We’ll also have a wide variety of canned and frozen produce, jams and herbal products available. We welcome the “Brick Oven Bus” food truck and Platense handmade Empanadas to tide you over while shopping.

January Gift Basket Giveaway!!

Vendors have come together to offer an amazing assortment of local love- Register to win the day of. Details HERE!

Community Driven Market

This market is a true community driven event, bringing together many local community organizations. Pine Tree Apple Orchard donates free Cider tastings, which the White Bear Area Foodshelf volunteers serve up.

Our own White Bear Lake Seed Library will be sharing seed saving ans starting information. Ramsey County Master Gardeners will be onsite answering gardening questions and giving out free “table top” organics recycling kits. The Pollinator Friendly Alliance will have info on how to help our wild pollinators! Tamarack Nature Center will be sampling their honey and maple syrup and have a take home “seed art” project.

The coordinator of the market, Michelle Bruhn, also runs Forks in the Dirt and will be sharing some vegetable garden planning techniques. You can also register to WIN a One Hour “Veggie Garden Planning Session” with Michelle right HERE.

January Market Vendors

All Good Organics: variety of fall and winter vegetables, spices, sauerkraut.

Bell’s Maple Syrup: Pure Maple Syrup tapped from Sugar Maples in Cushing, MN.

Dahl Hobbie Farm:  Raw honey, honey-based 12 spice cough soothing formula, jams.

Eichtens Cheese & Bison:  variety of locally sourced cheeses, sausages and wild rice.

Gilbertson Farm: humanely raised beef and pork, chicken and eggs.

Great Harvest: yeast breads, rolls, scones, cookies and scruffins.

Hart & Soul Herbal: quality controlled, naturally sustainable herbal products.

Ingredients Cafe: scratch made soups and handmade gnocchi to go.

Platense: Tasty Argentinian handmade frosted nuts, popcorn + serving ready to eat Empanadas.

Morsels: Handmade granola bars + bites, cookies, cupcakes and caramels

Sailor Mercy: Hand crafted batches of immune boosting Elderberry Syrup.

Sassafras Health Foods: Promoting Healthy Living as a way of life with supplements and other whole food based items.

Unity Farms:  A variety of popping corn, spices and cold processed soaps.

Weeds Greens: High quality and huge variety of locally grown microgreens.

Wild Run Salmon: Wild caught Alaskan Salmon sold by the fisherman.

As market coordinator, my mission is to help us all make healthier, more sustainable food choices. Our choices result in healthier lives for us and our planet! Follow the WBL  Winter Market Facebook Event Page for up to date information and specials. Full vendor and community table list on Forks in the Dirt on the WBL Market page.

*Don’t forget to bring Cash as not all vendors take cards*

Dig Into the New Year with me and our local growers and vendors!

Michelle

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We can’t wait for you to Shop Local + Eat Local with us at the December 8th White Bear Lake Winter Farmers Market! There are so many delicious gifts waiting to be found… We’ve curated the best local food growers and makers to give you a chance to do lots of your holiday shopping in one place! Don’t forget to fill your own Holiday tables with local foods too!

We all know receiving a consumable gift is the best…so giving them is the easy choice!

Extras for the Holiday Market

• Ramsey County Recycles will be giving away FREE REUSABLE BAGS to the first 100 shoppers!
• Chomp, the BearPower Carrot Mascot will be on site for photos from 9-10!
• Fresh Roasted Hot Coffee from Ox & Crow Coffeehouse

Don’t forget to Enter to Win this Locally loaded Gift Basket ~ The December Market Giveaway!

Entering to win here will also start your monthly email membership with Forks in the Dirt!

Meet the December Farmers and Makers 

All Good Organics:   With their own Farm Store on their farm in Lino Lakes, Butch and Kris will have a wide variety of farm fresh produce. Some of their offerings include greenhouse grown lettuces, full variety of fall/winter vegetables, frozen summer vegetables, homemade canned items (best sauerkraut!) and farm made spice blends! I visited with them last spring and got a great tour of the farm! 

Dahl Hobbie Farm:  Susan is known for her jellies, jams, raw honey and her honey-based 12 spice cough soothing formula. She’ll also be bringing some specialty chutney.

Eichtens Cheese & Bison: Our closest cheese producers are bringing a large variety of locally sourced and crafted cheeses. They offer some of their summer sausage and MN Wild rice as well. They’ll also have gift boxes available. My new favorite is the herbed gouda, it simply makes everything better.

Gilbertson Farm: Jessy brings a well rounded selection of humanely raised beef and pork, chicken, DUCK,  eggs. They sell a variety of cuts and blends. We love their pork sausage. They make a mean Wild Rice Brat- and their pork chops cook up tender and with so much more flavor than anything store bought. Plus the animals all had a great life!

Great Harvest Sharing their amazing Breads!

Great Harvest: If you’ve been to the WBL Summer Farmers market you’ll remember these breads- and likely Sheldon the happy purveyor of so many samples They specialize in yeast breads. They’ll bring breads, rolls, scones, cookies. Their monster cookies are legendary- their scones are my favorite!

Green Bros Micros: The Green brothers, really- Brandon and Nick Green recognized the benefits of urban farming and took the plunge to start growing micros as a delicious, nutritious addition to your diet. Fresh and local GREENS in our MN winters are such a treat!

Hart & Soul Herbal: Vanessa Hart crafts an all natural line of apothecary healing and aromatherapy products. Using the fewest steps between God and consumption, these high-quality-controlled naturally-sustainable unrefined products are made in small batches in White Bear Lake.

Sigrid of Hoppel Poppel sharing her German sourdough style breads

Hoppel Poppel Breads:  Sigrid shares her German roots through baking amazing sourdough breads and pastries. Her caramel rolls alone are worth a visit to the market. Some of her heavily seeded loaves are a meal in themselves. She’ll bring a variety of European style breads and pastries.

Ingredients Cafe: A White Bear favorite, the chefs at Ingredients are whipping up some scratch made soups to make your at home weeknight dinners simple and delicious. **NEW ITEM: Hand made Gnocchi at the December market** A special shout out to Ben Pratt, owner of Ingredients for volunteering his time to cook for the Harvest Party at the YMCA this Summer!

Ox & Crow Coffeehouse: Mara at Ox & Crow has created a wonderful coffeehouse in the Mahtomedi.. We’re looking forward to having her locally roasted specialty coffee beans and house made chai teas served hot. She’ll also be bringing

Platense: Vanessa brings us a taste of Argentina right here in Minnesota! She uses authentic family recipes for traditional frosted nuts from Argentina. The flavors might not be local but they are locally well-loved!

Mark and Linda of Suzi Q’s Dang Good Western Dressing!

Suzi Q Western Dressing:  “Dang Good” Western Dressing brought to you by Linda (Suzy Q) and (Cowboy) Mark from right in town. They had their first Summer selling their dressing at the WBL Summer market, and it was such a hit they’re bringing it to the Winter market too!

Unity Farm: Moses of Unity Farm is an emerging farmer with a bumper crop of popcorn, tomatoes and peppers. He’ll be sharing his dried, canned and blended produce. Moses is a farmer with the Minnesota Food Association. 

Community Driven Winter Market!

We’re so lucky to have HUGE support from so many local community groups. These people make this Winter Market a true event, and we’re lucky to have them!

Pine Tree Apple Orchard has once again donated their Hot Apple Cider! It will be served by White Bear Area Emergency Food Shelf volunteers. Let’s help hungry neighbors while shopping local 

Two happy shoppers with their FREE table top composting kits from Ramsey County!

Pam from the White Bear Lake Seed Library will again be spreading seeds of knowledge, and giving you info on starting your own seeds. We are so lucky to have a free and trusted source for locally saved seeds! Great blog and info at their link above.

The Ramsey County Master Gardeners will be available to answer gardening questions and and spread the word (and free starter kits) for the Ramsey County Composting program!

Viva Musica reps will be demonstrating their “Kindness Rocks” art program for schools.

Forks in the Dirt:  That’s me I’ll be there with a table to talk growing your own, backyard chickens, composting, canning and/or finding the best local food resources. My mission in getting this winter market together is to help us ALL make healthier, more sustainable food choices- for our own health, and the health of the planet!

Follow the WBL  Winter Market Facebook Event Page for up to date information and specials.

Can’t wait to Dig In and see you there!

– Michelle and the fabulous farmers and vendors of the WBL Winter Market!

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Get your Fix of Farm Fresh the easy way, there’s a farmers market almost every day!

I really like really local food… So of course I wanted to share my favorite Farmers Markets in my corner of the Twin Cities with you!

I shop these markets to: buy ‘new to me’ varieties to test before I grow myself, buy in bulk for preserving and to buy the crops farmers have started early or keep growing late in greenhouses to extend our local fresh food season. I also love chatting with the farmers and vendors, and I get some good insight into my own home gardens listening to the experts.

We are absolutely feeling the bounty of local farmers’ hard work up North right now. The food rolling in is dripping with sun ripened sweetness; from the cucumbers  to the zucchinis. And with a little planning, can be served on your table the same day it was picked! These Summer bounties make our MN Winters worth it, am I right!?!

For tips and secrets on ‘how to’ shop a Farmers Market like a pro, read this article! 

Summer 2018 Farmers Markets

Monday:

Little Canada Farmers Market:
Jul 9-Oct 8: Mon 2:30-6p.
Located at 2920 Rice St in the Hardware Hank parking lot

Wednesday:

Aldrich Arena:
May 16-Oct 31: Wed 8a-Noon.
N side of Aldrich Arena parking lot, 1850 White Bear Ave.

Vadnais Heights:
Jun 20-Oct.17: Wed 2-6p.
1155 E County Rd E in the parking lot of the Helene Houle Medical Center

Oakdale:
Jun-Oct: 2-6p.
1584 Hadley Ave next to City Hall at Richard Walton Park

Friday: 

White Bear Lake:
Jun 29-Oct 26: Fri 8a-Noon.
Hwy 61 & 4th St. on Washington Ave.

Saturday:

Mahtomedi:
Jun 16-Sep 22: Sat 8a-Noon.
Aat the crossroads of Mahtomedi Ave (Hwy 244) & Stillwater Rd.

Stillwater:
Jun-Oct: 7:30a-Noon.
Corner of 3rd & Pine St.

St Paul Farmers Market:
April 28-Nov 18: Sat 6a-1p
290 E 5th St, Lowertown St. Paul

Sunday:

St Paul Farmers Market:
April 28-Nov 18: Sun 8a-1
290 E 5th St, Lowertown St. Paul

Didn’t find a market in the right spot at the right time? Search the MNGrown farmers market database  to chose from the more than 180 Farmers Markets (WOW). I was even able to grab farm fresh food on our way to a recent camping destination using this search tool

Costas Farm Greenhouse Farmstand

Between these markets you can sample food from most of the farmers I’ve interviewed for my blog. Read up on them before you head out to learn a little more about who you are buying from…

Mhonpaj’s Garden
Costa’s Farm and Greenhouse
Heinel Farms

All Good Organics Farm Stand

And if you want to pick up something on a day there isn’t a market running… swing by Costa’s or All Good Organics on site farm stands, fresh from the farm doesn’t get better than this!

Now let’s get out there and enjoy this beautiful + bountiful Summer season while it lasts!

Do you have a favorite farmers market? I’d love to hear about it

Forks at the ready,  Let’s Dig in!
Michelle

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