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N.D.–FARRMS in Medina has announced that Napoleon has been selected to be the pilot community in a tri-state grant-funded project to build up the capacity of local foods in North Dakota, Minnesota and South Dakota. The first meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 11, at the Logan County Courthouse in Napoleon.

Communities taking part were chosen based on size. “We wrote this (grant) with an eye towards rural areas. There is plenty of capacity in urban areas. Rural is less served,” said Kathryn Draeger, project coordinator from the University of Minnesota Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships. The needs identified in rural communities are organizing tools, groups to rally around local foods and case studies from successful local foods projects to serve as incentive to build up local foods capacity.

The grant’s main purpose is to create DVDs, web-based learning modules and fact sheets to aid communities in specific needs for building up capacity in their area. Concerns, questions and ideas expressed at the meetings beginning in October should provide the information gaps that can be addressed through the USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research Education grant.

Coordinating the work in North Dakota are Sue Balcom from FARRMS in Medina and Dr. Abby Gold from North Dakota State University Extension.
Bemidji, Minn., and Spearfish, SD, were selected in their respective states to participate in the project.

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