MFMA at Work for Food Farmers, Food Makers, Fiber Farmers, & Markets - Part 1

2024 has seen a whirlwind of accomplishments & challenges for Minnesota farmers' markets and vendors, with even more on the 2025 horizon. Join MFMA staff as we discuss accomplishments, challenges, and aspirations to continue the thrivability of Minnesota's local foodshed, populated by 375+ farmers' markets. 

Sina War

MFMA Director of Engagement & Inclusion

Kathy Zeman

MFMA Executive Director

Door Prize #1 and Break

Find the restaurant in your area here.

Under "Location Categories" search by region & restaurant. 

Cannabis Products at Farmers' Markets - What's Legal, What's Not Legal

Margaret will cover current MN law for all the CBD / THC products - both edible and topical.  

Margaret has a background in horticulture and habitat restoration. She managed the Minnesota Department of Agriculture Hemp Program from 2016-2021. Margaret was the general manager for Hemp Acres, a hemp food and fiber processor in Waconia, from 2021-2023. She returned to state employment in 2023 to manage compliance and enforcement activities for the Office of Cannabis Management.

Margaret Wiatrowski

Director of Compliance & Enforcement

Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management

Door Prize #2 and Break

$75 Gift Basket from Heirloomista Farm, Amador Township

 11:05 am - 12:05 pm 

Keynote Speaker

Food and Agriculture Systems at a Crossroads: Dismantling Silo-mentality 

What role do you currently play in the food system today? What does a sustainable and equitable food system look like to you? I believe there is still hope for us to create a better food system where our children, their children and many more after them can thrive-- while giving back to the earth. But this requires urgent, deliberate, and deep change. Let's do this together.

Ka Zoua Berry

Farm Director, The Food Group

 Door Prize #3 and Break

Shop Nawapo for food, gifts, and crafts from Indigenous sellers.

LUNCH on Your Own

BONUS: Watch Sina Create a Farmers' Market Pot Pie!

What About Botanicals? Are They Food? Drugs? Supplements? Tinctures?

Farm Commons has researched the laws and rules for growing and selling botanicals. Staff attorney Chloe Johnson will share highlights and give us a sneak peak at the Minnesota-specific guide we can all use for our markets & vendors.

Chloe Johnson

Staff Attorney

Farm Commons

 Door Prize #4 and Break

Sina will moderate a panel of farmers' market operators & vendors as they share their experiences building our local foodshed in a diverse community of market operators and farmers.

Moderator: Sina War

MFMA Director of Engagement & Inclusion

Yair “Leo” Carvajalino, Norte Cafe

Rivianna Zeller, Farm Distributions Supervisor, Dream of Wild Health

Find the restaurant in your area here.

Under "Location Categories" search by region & restaurant. 

FM360 is Minnesota's nationally recognized farmers' markets metrics service, now in its 9th year of data collection. We'll hear summary numbers for 2024 and track the trends in MN from the beginning. Come prepared to ask the question: how does this help our market?

Joseph Nowak

University of Minnesota  FM360 Co-Founder and PhD Candidate, University of Minnesota

Hikaru Peterson

FM360 co-founder and Professor of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota

Door Prize #6 and Break

$75 Gift Certificate to Black Garnet Books

Broaden Your Farmers' Market Mission To Better Serve Your Communities

2024 was a good year for some creative & innovative thinking and programming at farmers' markets across the state - most likely born from several years of challenging growing conditions statewide! Come hear from other markets what they're doing and how they are managing it.

• BrightSide Produce - Online Farmers' Market Hub
• Riverwalk Market Fair - Northfield
• The Good Acre - Food Hub

Moderator: Sina War

Justa Heinen-Kay, Manager

BrightSide Produce, Linden Hills Farmers Market, MidCity Farmers Market

Betsy Wentz, Manager, Riverwalk Market Fair & Farmer, Rotational Roots

Derek Meyers, Manager, Riverwalk Market Fair

Anna Richardson, Director of Market Access Programs, The Good Acre

Housekeeping for tomorrow & Door Prize #7

$75 Gift Certificate from the Farmers'  Market of Your Choice

SNAP EBT & Market Bucks Another Record High in 

For the 3rd year in a row, MN farmers' markets played a key role in providing local food to their communities. Jill will share the results of 2024 - and explain any changes for 2025.

2025 Senior/Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program Updates
Senior/Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program overview and updates from Christina - plus the cost share to markets with grants up to $2,500.

Jill Westfall

Statewide Food Access Manager, The Food Group | Hunger Solutions Minnesota

Senior /FMNP  Coordinator

Minnesota Department of Agriculture

Find the restaurant in your area here.

Under "Location Categories" search by region & restaurant. 

How Are Our Markets Engaging Our Communities and Growing More Farmers? Part 1

Alert! This is an interactive session - requiring your input! 

• Sina will kick off this session highlighting successful messaging from markets across MN. (15 min)
• You will be able to choose a breakout room to dig deeper into the issues that most appeal to you, with a Moderator taking notes. (35 min)
• Break for a Door Prize!

Sina War

MFMA Director of Engagement & Inclusion

Door Prize #9 and Break

$75 Gift Certificate from Spirit Lake Native Farms.

How Are Our Markets Engaging Our Communities and Growing More Farmers? Part 2

Alert! This is an interactive session - requiring your input! 

• You will be able to choose a 2nd breakout room to dig deeper into the issues that most appeal to you, with a Moderator taking notes. (35 min)
• Sina will bring us back together, with the Moderators reporting from their breakouts. (10 min)
• Sina will wrap up with possibilities for all of us for 2025. (10 min)

Sina War

MFMA Director of Engagement & Inclusion

Moderators

 Door Prize #10 and Break

 LUNCH On Your Own

Yoga Breath Grounding Work

12:45 - 1:45 pm 

Keynote Speaker

A Perfect Summer Day: How MN Farmers' Markets Shaped My Childhood and Work in the Food Sovereignty Movement

Friendly Vang-Johnson, MFMA Director of Government Affairs will share her lived experience as one of the first Hmong farmers in the United States and how this has informed her work serving local small-scale, emerging farmers. Her speech, delivered in a storytelling style, is a love letter to encourage and honor all farmers and farmers' markets. She will outline a blueprint for food sovereignty: how it can be pursued and why it matters, beyond food security or equitable access.

Door Prize #11

$75 Gift Basket

MN Farmers' Market Association

Broaden Your Farmers' Market Mission To Better Serve Your Communities

2024 was a good year for some creative & innovative thinking and programming at farmers' markets across the state - most likely born from several years of challenging growing conditions statewide! Come hear from other markets what they're doing and how they are managing it.

• Produce for the People - St. Paul Farmers' Market
• Rochester Farmers Markets
• Fergus Falls Farmers Market

Sina War

MFMA Director of Engagement & Inclusion

Door Prize #12 and Break

$75 Gift Certificate to Birchbark Books 

National Farmers' Market Week Social Media Campaign Effectiveness

• Update from Lincoln Park Farmers' Market on 2024 NFMW Celebration
• Report from UWEX's USDA NIFA Farmers' Market Grant collaboration with the St. Paul Farmers Market & the New Ulm Farmers' Market

Sam Lindblad, Lincoln Park Farmers' Market

Bret Shaw, University of Wisconsin

Lindsay Stauner, St. Paul Farmers Market

Sarah Warmka, New Ulm Farmers' Market

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(612) 701- 4011

Sina War

MFMA Director of Engagement & Inclusion