WILLMAR -- In the hands of Alyce Fust, a "healthy landscape'' is all about enjoying the very best in dining.
Fust, of the Appleton Meat Center's "Catering with Class,'' served up a menu befitting a five-star restaurant last week in the modest surroundings of the basement of the Bethel Lutheran Church in Willmar. All of her ingredients were locally produced, from the kale, leeks and potatoes that comprised the introductory soup to the apple butter and honey, fresh bread, cheese, meats and sausage, squash and carrots that followed.
Fust served the feast for the "healthy landscapes, healthy people'' event sponsored by the West Central Regional Sustainable Development Partnership. Among its goals is promoting the economic and nutritional benefits of locally raised produce.
West central Minnesota could improve farm revenues and keep more people on the land if it increased the production of foods for local consumption. Mary Jo Forbord, a Pope County farmer and registered dietitian, said the movement toward local food production and consumption is growing across the country.
Forbord told participants of the "healthy landscapes" discussion that more than economics is at stake. Promoting local food production and consumption can also improve our diets. Using fresh, locally raised foods can provide for our nutritional needs while helping offset our consumption of highly refined and processed food items.
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Research is increasingly showing links between our food consumption and physical and mental development, especially when it comes to our youth, she said.
The effort to promote local food production and a more healthy landscape is just part of many endeavors being supported by the West Central Regional Sustainable Development Partnership. This region's group is taking on projects ranging from health insurance to perennial crops.
One effort is seeking legislative support to create a new health insurance model to serve the needs of farmers and small, rural businesses. A recent survey of small-business owners in the 12-county region found that 55 percent are considering the possibility of dropping the health insurance they provide their employees due to rising insurance premiums, according to Greg Thorson, an associate professor of political science at the University of Minnesota-Morris.
He is looking at creating a purchasing alliance of farmers and small-business owners that would operate differently than many other insurance pools. It would require that the costs of health care services be made transparent to its consumers.
Accurate information on the costs of various tests and services would allow consumers to make educated choices, and create a true, market-driven process to help control health care costs, he said.
Thorson said the current health insurance system puts rural business owners and farmers at a disadvantage. Rising costs are not sustainable. Americans pay more for health care than anyone else in the world, he said, "yet our outcomes are suboptimal.''
Another project is looking at ways to encourage development of the genetics of perennial crops such as hazelnuts that could provide new farm revenues while improving our environment. Don Wyse, agronomy and plant genetics faculty at the University of Minnesota-Morris, assisted farmers in northwestern Minnesota as they developed an industry to raise grass for seed and lawns.
He is now working in this region to encourage perennial crop development as well. He noted that incredible sums of money are invested to improve the genetics of our leading row crops. Great strides could also be possible in perennial crops, if investment capital can be attracted to make the same kinds of genetic improvements possible, he said.
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Other projects discussed at the annual meeting ranged from promoting renewable energy to increasing the growing network of local food producers and their joint marketing projects.
