Today we’d like to introduce you to Sara George.
Hi Sara, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I wear a few hats in the local food system world, pretty much everything from Farm to Fork, but they are all so interconnected and each one has value to the next.
I have been the Red Wing Farmers Market Manager for seven years. Early on, we had 14 total vendors apply to our market and now we average 28 vendors per market, with over 60 unique applications that come in annually. It is through the programs and services that we offer to the vendors that brings more and more vendors annually, and that is exciting!
I also, personally, have an 11.5-acre farm in Pepin featuring perennial crops such as red raspberries, yellow raspberries and black raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, rhubarb, asparagus, apples as well as a variety of vegetable crops.
I work full-time at Renewing the Countryside, a non-profit that supports the rural food system here in the Upper Midwest and LOVE working directly with farmers and finally I am a Food Safety trainer for local farmers, teaching them about GAPs or Good Agricultural Practices and FSMA, the Food Safety Modernization Act so that they are ready to implement wholesale sales for their farm.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Farming is hard! Very hard! It takes a hell of a lot of radishes to make a house payment. So my mission was to set out to help as many farmers as I can. I began my journey supporting farmers by volunteering at the farmers market in Wabasha, trying to support local farmers. As I learned more and more about farming and making a living farming, I realized the amount of support that is needed to become successful at it: see we have short MN summers where we can grow products, so anything we can do to increase sales for these farmers during that time seemed advantageous. I reached out to many places for help to support the farmers in Wabasha. I volunteered on the Board at the MN Farmers Market Association, joined the Community Leadership Team for SHIP, the Statewide Health Improvement Partnership and began communicating with Non-profit organizations that support farmers. I worked with the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture and Renewing the Countryside to learn about rules and regulations that surround local food initiatives in MN, so that I could stand up for programs like Farm to School in our community.
Ultimately, I was hired at Renewing the Countryside for a new program, the Farmers Market Food Hubs that was an idea I brainstormed about and dreamt of to make food access easier. But easier… isn’t always easy. It takes time, energy, passion and a lot of research. New processes need to be created, regulations followed, and getting others on board… that too takes time.
Eventually, as my work in local food systems expanded, I moved from the Wabasha Farmers Market to managing the Red Wing Farmers Market. They were looking for a new manager and heard about the work I do in communities across MN and wanted to see if I could help out over there. Challenge accepted! In 2019, I transferred to Red Wing and have just loved working in this community!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am the Farmer Focused Program Manager at Renewing the Countryside, working Farm to School, Farm to Early Care, (now known as Farm to Kids here in MN), Farmers Market Food Hub (Aggregation program) and I help underserved farmers by providing information, tools, pathways and one-on-one technical assistance to access resources and services to improve their farm’s viability.
As a farmer myself, market manager for the Red Wing Farmers Market and also a FSMA Food Safety Trainer, I know how hard farming can be and love supporting farmers across the Upper Midwest. I lead RTC’s Farmers Market Aggregation program, helping build a network of Farmers Markets in Minnesota that act as aggregation hubs for their farmers, creating a unique model for institutional purchasing. I mentor these hubs by providing strategies, skills and opportunities for wholesale development, local food procurement, and development of local food systems throughout MN. I am passionate about supporting farmers and local food systems.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Oh collaboration is key! I love working with others. We are so much stronger together and by working with others we can make a difference in local food systems. We can’t do this alone. Organizations like Renewing the Countryside, the Institute for Sustainable Agriculture, the Land Stewardship Project, the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture, the University of Minnesota and so many more are working side by side, with each other, supporting the ultimate goal of building community collaborations that impact our food systems, making our farmers stronger, better, and more effective in success.
By supporting these organizations, you are ultimately supporting local food system work and agriculture. Together we come up with creative solutions to real life struggles farmers are dealing with and support them. Moving at the speed of trust with these farmers is the key, and therefore, by working together, in collaboration, we can give them what they need to succeed. But organizations like the ones mentioned above are mostly all non-profits, relying on funding to keep these programs going. By supporting these organizations, you are ultimately making a difference in local farmers and helping build local food systems that can and will be in place for years to come!
Reach out to these organizations, sign up for their newsletters and see how you can help us make a difference one farmer at a time. We love hearing from you!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.renewingthecountryside.org/ | https://www.farmersmarkethub.org/ | https://www.redwingfarmersmarket.com/
