Sharing Our Roots

SHARING OUR ROOTS EXISTS TO...

• Innovate a path toward a more just, resilient and healthy food system (building local wealth and food security);
• Welcome, support, and value the expertise of immigrant, low income, new, and transitioning farmers in a shared economy; and
• Demonstrate perennial agriculture’s capacity to heal the land and care for community.

OUR HISTORY:

In 2016, Sharing Our Roots acquired 100 acres of degraded corn-on-corn farmland. We are restoring it to health by keeping the soil covered, planting perennials, cleaning up waterways and adding wetlands. We are also working to improve production for perennial crops such as elderberries and hazelnuts, and conducting on-farm research documenting wildlife resurgence. The Sharing Our Roots Farm allows us to support aspiring farmers, enhance local wealth, food security and innovate a resilient agriculture system. 

We exist to share. We share the land, machinery, infrastructure, produce, rootstock, technical expertise and community. 

OUR INITIATIVES  

• Community Land Share
  • At Sharing Our Roots Farm, we address issues of food insecurity and land access. We lease land to local Kenyan, Latinx and a small number of emerging white farmers at an affordable rate for them. We have opened our entire 100-acre farm to emerging and immigrant farmers from the community in a new commons-based model. The cohort is a group of individuals who wish to farm alongside one another in ways that restore our soil and water, while also providing nourishing food for their families and communities. BIPOC, LGBTQ, immigrant, female, young and emerging farmers make up this initial Farmer Cohort.
• Wildlife Counts
  • At Sharing Our Roots, we are taking inventory of all wildlife seen on the farm, from tiny insects and colorful birds to prehistoric-looking reptiles and charismatic mammals. We want to share a story of hope by demonstrating how a different way of farming can revive our soils, draw down carbon and protect our wildlife heritage. Wildlife Counts supports Minnesotans in learning about their native wildlife, while also helping us document the return of species to the Sharing Our Roots Farm after decades of heavy tilling and chemical use for corn and soybean production. Because birds, frogs and insects are sensitive to changes in their environment, they can be indicators of an ecosystem’s health, warning us of issues that need our attention like habitat degradation, disease or pollution.
• Community Connectors
  • Three dynamic women, originally from Mexico and Kenya, serve as our Community Connectors. Sharing Our Roots provides structure, support and networking opportunities for Community Connectors to mobilize their neighborhoods and enact positive change. Connectors liaise with their local communities connecting farmers seeking land to the Sharing Our Roots Farm or to neighborhood gardens near where they live. Our Community Connectors are trusted neighbors working on the frontlines of food insecurity across Rice County.

Join us in advancing a resilient agriculture system that demonstrates the power to heal our lands, nourish our communities and prepare emerging farmers.

WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SHARING OUR ROOTS? VISIT OUR WEBSITE