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Where Is Food Sold At Farmers Markets Grown?

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Just 20 minutes south of St. Paul is a 155-acre farm split up into 5-acre plots. Drivers might recognize it from the red sheds that can be seen along Highway 52.

It's called Hmong American Farmers Association, of HAFA, Farm and its fields are now alive with everything from corn to cabbage to beans to broccoli.

"This farm incubates and provides land tenure to Hmong farmers," says Janssen Hang, HAFA farm manager. "This is their primary source of livelihood, their primary source of income."

There are 17 farmers who farm on the land between Hastings and Farmington. All of them sell at the St. Paul Farmers Markets and follow the rules that regulate who is allowed to sell.

"It's strictly local," says David Kotsonas, director of the St. Paul Growers Association. "If you're selling produce, then you grew the produce and you did so in and around the metro area."

The farthest grower from any of St. Paul's 27 farmers markets lives 62 miles away. Part of Kotsonas' job is to visit the farm to ensure they grow what they're selling.

"The idea of buying local is so important because it keeps our dollars local," Kotsonas said. "By keeping our dollars local longer, we help build the wealth of our community and we raise everyone up to together."

The rules for the 29 Minneapolis farmers markets are slightly different because each market determines what can be sold.

According to Tamara Downs Schwei, local food policy coordinator for the City of Minneapolis, the vast majority of the markets only sell local products. The average distance from farm to Minneapolis market is 39 miles, but there are a handful of Minneapolis markets who are able to sell produce that isn't grown in Minnesota or Wisconsin. That might include mangos, bananas or pineapples.

Schwei says those markets are often places that don't have as much access to fresh foods.

"It's an important place to get affordable food," Schwei says.

Those markets, though, are not allowed to sell non-local foods that can be grown in-season locally.

As for the markets outside of the metro area, Minnesota Farmers Market Association Executive Director Kathy Zeman says priority is given to growers who live and sell within 50 miles of their market.

"The market should reflect the community where they live," Zeman says.

National Farmers Market week runs through Aug. 10.

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