Building Connections

As you learned in the first two articles, the Heartland Food Network (HFN) works to support local foods by building connections among all players in the local "food system." HFN is a collaboration of chefs, restaurateurs, farmers and distributors whose mission is to encourage and facilitate increased consumption of local foods as a way to build stronger communities, healthier lives and a cleaner environment.

The lovely spring months offered many new opportunities for HFN to build more connections and expand its network. The newest members of HFN are the Southeast Minnesota Food Network (a collaboration of approximately 80 family farms in southeastern Minnesota), the Arboretum Restaurant at the MN Landscape Arboretum and Jenny Breen's Good Life Catering company. These new members bring a wealth of locally-produced foods, new insights into sourcing local foods within a food service management company and HFN's very first caterer member! Member Carla Blumberg, owner of At Sara's Table Chester Creek Café in Duluth emphasizes the value of these connections saying, "I was a farmer as a young woman in Texas in the 1970's. The biggest frustration then was having no infrastructure to enable connection between small farmers and consumers. The promise of that connection has led me to Heartland [Food Network]."

Additional member restaurants include The Bayport Cookery, Bridgewood Café and Catering, Café Brenda, Spoonriver, Café Minnesota at the Minnesota History Center, the Minnetonka Cargill Campus, FireLake Grill House & Cocktail Bar, Muffuletta, The Oceanaire Seafood Room and the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management's Bistro. In addition to Southeast Minnesota Food Network, distributor members include Big River Foods, Bix Produce Company and Sysco MN.

Our spring growth also included new opportunities to educate and engage the public in supporting local foods. HFN and Renewing the Countryside (www.renewingthecountryside.org) teamed up to bring a new element to this year's Living Green Expo. The Homegrown Heartland Stage featured local chefs, educators, artisan food makers and farmers who prepared simple, delicious and healthful dishes all of which included fresh, local ingredients.

Heartland Food Network is also a proud 2007 sponsor of the Mill City Farmers Market cooking demonstration series. Each week at the Market (May 12th - October 20th), top local chefs create delicious dishes featuring all of the wonderful products the Market has to offer! Market customers learn from the very best how to make the most of the farmers market season with weekly recipes, tips on storing fresh produce, food samples and more. Watch for more information at www.heartlandfoodnetwork.org or at www.millcityfarmersmarket.org.

Finally, Third Thursday continues with Heartland Food Network member restaurants offering seasonal specials featuring local ingredients. May specials included: pizza with caramelized spring onion, asparagus and gorgonzola from the Arboretum Restaurant; Café Brenda's polenta served with a light morel mushroom cream sauce, tomato concasse and an arugula salad; and a French Dip made with 1000 Hills Cattle Company beef, served au jus on a ciabata roll at The Bistro. For participating restaurants and specials visit www.heartlandfoodnetwork.org or call Kara at 651.645.6159, ext. 9.

We are very excited to share our new members with you. We hope you'll join us in supporting the dedicated work of our local farmers and the chefs, restaurants and distributors who are committed to using their products.