Local Profile

by Susan Budig From farm-to-city takes on new meaning at the 31,000-square-foot structure in northeast Minneapolis known locally as the Food Building. A unique facility owned by Kieran Folliard, creator of the Irish pub scene in the Twin Cities, has opened its doors to farmborn artisanal food production. It’s now home to the Lone Grazer Creamery. Rueben Nilsson, co-owner and head cheese-maker, started the business because he wanted consumers to understand the connection from farm to table. “The idea was to create a place where people could come and see where their food is made,” he says. It’s a place to blend the art and science of cheesemaking crafted from the milk of Minnesota grass-fed herds. A Creamery in Urban Minneapolis Cows are not common in the Twin Cities except during the State Fair at the end of summer. Nilsson was attracted to the idea of making

If you inquire with the Minnesota Secretary of State, you’ll learn that one person may cast one vote in one polling place. Those who disobey this law might be found guilty of ballot stuffing. Last week, however, I cast 95 votes at my local co-op with 86 of them in favor of the “Local Growers and Farmers Party.” That is, I voted with my dollars at the cash register and over 90 percent of my vote favored local growers and producers here in Minnesota and adjacent states. In the real world, the one-voter, one-vote rule applies to the citizens of Minnesota, as well as our nation. In fact, it also governs cooperatives where each membership equals one vote during the annual election for board directors. Consequently, as an owner at Valley Natural Foods, you have an opportunity to vote in a