Raise Your Voice – Soil & water & spirit

BY PETER MOLENAAR

From time to time, some of us venture south of Lake Street to visit the Powderhorn people. Should you turn west from Bloomington Avenue onto 35^th Street, look to the right to view their lovely park. Glance left, as you approach Chicago Avenue and you will spot the old fire station which houses their neighborhood association. But, how many know that this old station houses another splendid organization?

Via a side entrance, offices of the Land Stewardship Project (LSP) can be found on the second floor. These dedicated folks believe that, in conjunction with family farmers, culturally and racially diverse rural and urban people can promote responsible stewardship of agricultural land, along with healthy food for all. To take one example, as Congress attempted to pass the 2018 farm bill, LSP was tuned in to defend the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Of course, issues regarding land stewardship have been with us for some time. It was in the mid-19^th Century that Karl Marx observed: “All progress in capitalistic agriculture is a progress in the art of robbing the soil.” Yes, our Minnesota River is now so silt laden as to spoil the Mississippi”'s Lake Pepin with accumulating deposits.… Read the rest “Raise Your Voice – Soil & water & spirit”