Page 16 - Feast_Vol3

Multicultural in Minnesota
PINT-SIZE PRODUCE continued from page 15

In Minnesota, Danette Allrich, owner of Holding Hands
Childcare, got involved with Farm to ECE through
Renewing the Countryside (RTC), a nonprofit dedicated to
supporting rural areas and local food systems. Each week
this summer and fall, Danette and her kids gleefully opened
a box of fresh produce from the Hmong American Farmers
Association (HAFA) farm, southeast of St. Paul. With
support from the Cargill Foundation, RTC provided Holding
Hands and nine other childcare sites in St. Paul with CSA
(Community Supported Agriculture) boxes from HAFA.
The produce boxes provide healthy and fun
opportunities for the kids. “Just yesterday, we peeled, baked
and enjoyed edamame beans for the first time,” says Danette.
“Some of the kids loved them and begged their parents to
buy them the next time they went to the grocery store.”
She had a similar experience when introducing another
new food. “I got a text from a mom Wednesday night asking
about the ‘brown cherries’ I introduced the kiddos to and
how she could get them. She was referring to the ground
cherries we had for snack, which the kids loved but had
never had before. I shared that I grew up eating them on
my grandparents farm, and we picked buckets of them each
summer, making jelly and canning them.”
Along with the CSA boxes, RTC provides “Pint-Size
Produce” materials filled with recipes and fun activities. They
also partner with St. Paul Public Schools and Youth Farm
to integrate these concepts more widely among teachers,
childcare providers and parents.
Across town, at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade
Policy (IATP), Community Food Systems Program Director
Erin McKee is developing a bicultural, bilingual curriculum
with HAFA that will include culturally relevant food items.
“There are very few early care educational resources that
take advantage of the huge potential to link food with
culture, deepening the appreciation for both during this key
age when kids are forming concepts that can carry forward
for the rest of their lives,” says Erin. “We hope to create
resources celebrating the deep agricultural roots and culinary
riches of our Hmong community while developing a new
market for Hmong farmers.”
IATP and RTC are just a couple of the organizations
and agencies working on Farm to ECE in Minnesota.
Providing kids with early experiences like these with
new foods, different recipes, hands-on gardening and
family education can lead to better health outcomes. It’s
an opportunity to dig into gardens, try a few different
broccoli recipes and build community connections that
can improve the health of children, the environment and
our local economies.

Grace Brogan is a Montana and Minnesota-based writer, gardener, artist,
educator and values-based economy activist.
16 FEAST! Local Foods Magazine