We have been farming locally grown foods and building local markets for our regional farmers since 2010 in central Minnesota. Minnesota-especially rural parts of our state-has a significant food-access problem. The closure of small-town grocery stores and an aging rural population with mobility issues are among several factors that have added to this problem. Sen. Carrie Ruud has cosponsored legislation to fund the Minnesota Good Food Access Program. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture's program will help support local efforts to increase access to healthy and affordable foods.
Whether assisting in the modernization of a rural grocery store, or providing resources to help open a farmers market featuring locally grown and produced foods, the program will go a long way toward reducing food-access challenges in Minnesota. By increasing opportunities for rural Minnesotans to purchase local food, our food dollars stay local, we sustain our small family farms, and we continue to support local and regional communities through food hubs such as Sprout, which is located in Little Falls.
If you agree that a lack of access to healthy and affordable foods in rural Minnesota is a problem that needs to be addressed, please help me in thanking Senator Ruud. Together, we can make it better.
Arlene Jones
The Farm on St. Mathias
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Brainerd
