World’s First Pete Gengler is happy that his family and its company, Sno Pac Foods, Inc., got into the organic food business early. Touting itself as the world’s first grower/processor of frozen organic vegetables, Sno Pac, located in Caledonia, Minnesota, is in its third generation of ownership. Pete Gengler’s mother, Darlene, is the last of […]
Minnesota Agroforestry Cooperative
Educating Growers and Buyers The Minnesota Agroforestry Cooperative (MAC), a producer-owned cooperative, focuses on the economic gain and stability of the producer. Its goal is to collectively raise and market agro-forestry products for profit. The Co-op also aims to educate prospective growers about hybrid poplars and create public awareness about the advantages of agricultural fiber […]
Medicinal Herbs on the Urban Fringe
Unique Income Source Renne Soberg was raised on his family’s dairy farm in Lakeville, Minnesota, where his family have been farming since the 1890s. The farm, greatly reduced in size after surviving many permutations, is now under Renne’s care. After working in Washington for the USDA, Renne returned to Minnesota to finish his education, and […]
Apple Crisp Cooperative
A “Core” Effort Southeast Minnesota is a countryside dotted with picturesque apple orchards, a development led nearly a century ago by the University of Minnesota. Partly due to the Mississippi River and partly due to landscape conditions created in the last glacial age, climate and soil conditions are unique to the area and ideal for […]