A taste of place

By News Team
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Fri, Feb 21st, 2003
Posted in Features

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Think of a bag of Doritos or a Big Mac. What defines fast food?

Fast food is predictable, exactly the same every time we buy it, no matter what the season, no matter where in the world. It is highly processed, made in mass quantities, and always available. It is anonymous food � we do not know who grew it or how they grew it, how it got to us, or who cooked it. Our consumer dollar goes to support the profits of some far away corporation.

Now think of a tender slow-roasted chicken, swimming in a luscious sauce made with garlic and grapes that provide a surprising touch of sweetness. You know the farmer. He is Aaron Gillespie, who raises chickens on pasture between Fountain and Lanesboro. The chicken is drug-free and has a natural good taste so often missing from factory raised chickens. Your purchase helped sustain a local farm, and that farmer is taking good care of his land. You enjoy the healthful food, and you enjoy the connections you are making to the land and your community.

The experience of local food is the opposite of fast food.

All who dined last Saturday at the Local Flavors event at Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center got to sample Aaron Gillespie�s chicken, along with other local foods produced by some 25 area farmers.

Eagle Bluff�s Chef Laura Thompson planned the event to help raise awareness of the quality and variety of foods produced locally. She teamed up with the Southeastern Minnesota Food Network, organized a year ago to help market local foods to area businesses, especially restaurants and institutions. Together they invited farmers from Fillmore, Houston and Winona Counties to display their products and tell about their farms and their farming methods.

For example, Joe and Bonnie Austin of Hill and Vale Farms near Wykoff offer beef, lamb, and chickens -- either frozen or fresh -- along with brown eggs and wool products.

Mike Rupprecht sells his pasture-raised beef, pork, and poultry, along with wieners, brats, popcorn and eggs, all raised with his wife Jennifer on their beautiful Lewiston farm.

Featherstone Fruits and Vegetables is a 40-acre organic farm near Winona farmed by three partners. Their diverse seasonal produce is sold at area farmers� markets, cooperatives, and grocery stores. They also feature Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), where .....
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MPCA expected to rule EIS not needed on Heartland

By News Team
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Fri, Feb 21st, 2003
Posted in Features

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The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) Citizens� Board is expected to rule on Tuesday, February 25, that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is not needed for the proposed Heartland Energy and Recycling plant in Preston. The Citizens� Boar .....
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Preston City Council rescinds Heartland permit

By News Team
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Fri, Feb 21st, 2003
Posted in Features

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A legal firm hired by the Preston City Council to offer legal advice has recommended that the council should rescind a conditional use permit (CUP) granted to Heartland Energy & Recycling in May.

Mary Tietjen, an attorney for K .....
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Lanesboro accepts $70,000 bid for old clinic

By News Team
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Fri, Feb 21st, 2003
Posted in Features

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At their meeting February 18th the Lanesboro City Council accepted Lee and Charlene Draper�s high bid of $70,000 for the old clinic building at 104 Sheridan West. Charlene intends to move her beauty shop business to the building and will try to bring .....
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