Jodi Brown and her husband, Ben, own Brown Family Farm, located in Big Lake, Minnesota. The couple has been farming together on rented land for the past ten years. This May, they moved onto land that they own themselves. On their ten tilled acres, Brown Family Farm grows over 125 varieties of produce, including staples such as squash and corn in addition to less common vegetables, like kohlrabi. The land they purchased was previously an alpaca farm, which, according to Jodi, means the soil health is far superior to other land they’ve worked in the past. Jodi spoke about the inherent uncertainties that come along with her job: as a result of excellent soil health, this year Brown Family Farm saw a yield twice as large as last year from the same number of squash seeds. Agriculture’s unpredictable nature often leads to surplus produce, and, in some instances, farmers like Jodi have trouble placing this produce before it goes bad. This fall, Brown Family Farms sent 2,000 pounds of this surplus squash to the Keystone Community Center with the help of The Farmlink Project. While Jodi says she and her husband always aim to get fresh produce to hungry people rather than leaving it in the fields, she emphasized that “it’s really awesome when [they] get paid for a portion of what they’re donating; The Farmlink Project’s assistance covers the cost of getting that produce out of the field.”
Brown Family Farms runs a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program. In this program, community members buy a share (or several) of the produce they grow, essentially investing in the farm. Members receive boxes of fresh produce along with information from Jodi about the nutrition, storage, and preparation of each item in the box. Jodi said that for their customers, “it’s equally about getting fresh produce and about supporting local farmers.” The COVID-19 pandemic caused many to consider where their food comes from, and, according to Jodi, Brown Family Farm saw an influx of interest in their CSA when supermarkets lacked consistent fresh produce. In Minnesota, where harsh winters preclude year-round local food production, “this spring scared a lot of people and made them look at the food systems in place.” People appreciated having a more concrete connection to where their food came from.
Brown Family Farm takes the feeling of community a step further with the blog Jodi keeps updated with what’s happening on the farm. For farm news and fun recipes, check out their website!
These changes are great. But how’s it all going to be funded?
During the comment process, Farmlink, as well as other food rescue organizations and coalitions, raised critical questions about how the strategy would be funded and, as a result, which measures are feasible. In particular, we hoped for more clarity beyond the draft’s statement that the USDA would use American Rescue Plan Act and Inflation Reduction Act funds and the EPA would use Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds. Of the 86 programs or initiatives reviewed in the final strategy, only 15 are completely new programs announced in the strategy.
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The other 71 are existing programs or initiatives that either already have a food loss and waste focus or that the national strategy has repackaged as food loss and waste solutions. While we had hopes of new, innovative programs being included in the strategy, the good news with these 71 programs is that most, if not all, are already funded, meaning that they are not reliant on an increasingly turbulent Congress for implementation. Of the 15 new programs, which included the EPA’s new consumer education campaign and several new cooperative agreements with land-grant universities, only 2 had specific funding mechanisms. It has become increasingly clear that food rescue organizations and other stakeholders in the food and agriculture space should not consider this strategy as a new rollout of FLW solutions, programs, and funding but rather as an evaluation of the current resources and solutions and how each can be most effectively utilized to achieve the strategy’s goals. In particular, the framing of many of USDA’s programs as FLW solutions offers opportunities to utilize existing funding, data, and infrastructure to solve one of the United States’s most pressing problems.
Whats next?
Now that we have the strategy, it’s time to truly take advantage of the opportunities it presents. In the immediate future at Farmlink, we’re excited to continue optimizing Section 32 as a critical on-farm food loss solution as we anticipate significant surplus recoveries in the fall. As we move forward, we continue to advocate for dignity with food distribution, emphasizing cultural appropriateness and quality in every pound of food we rescue. As outlined in our comments, food rescue organizations are critical stakeholders and thought partners for the agencies. Our inclusion in the strategy as such is an opportunity we are taking full advantage of to help guide federal action to support farmers, feed communities, and heal the planet.
< BackJodi Brown and her husband, Ben, own Brown Family Farm, located in Big Lake, Minnesota. The couple has been farming together on rented land for the past ten years. This May, they moved onto land that they own themselves. On their ten tilled acres, Brown Family Farm grows over 125 varieties of produce, including staples such as squash and corn in addition to less common vegetables, like kohlrabi. The land they purchased was previously an alpaca farm, which, according to Jodi, means the soil health is far superior to other land they’ve worked in the past. Jodi spoke about the inherent uncertainties that come along with her job: as a result of excellent soil health, this year Brown Family Farm saw a yield twice as large as last year from the same number of squash seeds. Agriculture’s unpredictable nature often leads to surplus produce, and, in some instances, farmers like Jodi have trouble placing this produce before it goes bad. This fall, Brown Family Farms sent 2,000 pounds of this surplus squash to the Keystone Community Center with the help of The Farmlink Project. While Jodi says she and her husband always aim to get fresh produce to hungry people rather than leaving it in the fields, she emphasized that “it’s really awesome when [they] get paid for a portion of what they’re donating; The Farmlink Project’s assistance covers the cost of getting that produce out of the field.”
Brown Family Farms runs a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program. In this program, community members buy a share (or several) of the produce they grow, essentially investing in the farm. Members receive boxes of fresh produce along with information from Jodi about the nutrition, storage, and preparation of each item in the box. Jodi said that for their customers, “it’s equally about getting fresh produce and about supporting local farmers.” The COVID-19 pandemic caused many to consider where their food comes from, and, according to Jodi, Brown Family Farm saw an influx of interest in their CSA when supermarkets lacked consistent fresh produce. In Minnesota, where harsh winters preclude year-round local food production, “this spring scared a lot of people and made them look at the food systems in place.” People appreciated having a more concrete connection to where their food came from.
Brown Family Farm takes the feeling of community a step further with the blog Jodi keeps updated with what’s happening on the farm. For farm news and fun recipes, check out their website!
Brown Family Farm
Big Lake, Minnesota
Jodi Brown and her husband, Ben, own Brown Family Farm, located in Big Lake, Minnesota. The couple has been farming together on rented land for the past ten years. This May, they moved onto land that they own themselves. On their ten tilled acres, Brown Family Farm grows over 125 varieties of produce, including staples such as squash and corn in addition to less common vegetables, like kohlrabi. The land they purchased was previously an alpaca farm, which, according to Jodi, means the soil health is far superior to other land they’ve worked in the past. Jodi spoke about the inherent uncertainties that come along with her job: as a result of excellent soil health, this year Brown Family Farm saw a yield twice as large as last year from the same number of squash seeds. Agriculture’s unpredictable nature often leads to surplus produce, and, in some instances, farmers like Jodi have trouble placing this produce before it goes bad. This fall, Brown Family Farms sent 2,000 pounds of this surplus squash to the Keystone Community Center with the help of The Farmlink Project. While Jodi says she and her husband always aim to get fresh produce to hungry people rather than leaving it in the fields, she emphasized that “it’s really awesome when [they] get paid for a portion of what they’re donating; The Farmlink Project’s assistance covers the cost of getting that produce out of the field.”
Brown Family Farms runs a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program. In this program, community members buy a share (or several) of the produce they grow, essentially investing in the farm. Members receive boxes of fresh produce along with information from Jodi about the nutrition, storage, and preparation of each item in the box. Jodi said that for their customers, “it’s equally about getting fresh produce and about supporting local farmers.” The COVID-19 pandemic caused many to consider where their food comes from, and, according to Jodi, Brown Family Farm saw an influx of interest in their CSA when supermarkets lacked consistent fresh produce. In Minnesota, where harsh winters preclude year-round local food production, “this spring scared a lot of people and made them look at the food systems in place.” People appreciated having a more concrete connection to where their food came from.
Brown Family Farm takes the feeling of community a step further with the blog Jodi keeps updated with what’s happening on the farm. For farm news and fun recipes, check out their website!
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