Minneapolis Asking For Input on Urban Agriculture Plans

Whether you're squawking mad about your neighbor's backyard chickens, or bleating for more support for urban farmers, head over to the East Phillips Park Community Center on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

The City of Minneapolis will be hosting an open house featuring the Homegrown Minneapolis Food Council and a free meal from Sisters Camelot. At the event, you can catch an update on the city's urban agriculture plans, meet two urban farmers, and give your two cents about potential future programs and policies.

The open house will also include an information fair with urban agriculture groups, composting lessons, gardening and bee-keeping. The event is free and open to the public, but attendees are asked to RSVP to jane.shey@minneapolismn.gov.

Alongside the city, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is also looking at ways to support farming in the city's park system.

"The city's doing great work. We want to support and supplement those efforts," the Park Board's Ginger Cannon told Patch. "It's a lot more than providing space of a community garden. Whether it's consumption, production, or distribution, urban agriculture has a broad impact on our city."

The Park Board, Cannon said, is hosting the last in a series of open houses on this stage of its plan Tuesday night, at the Nokomis Rec Center, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. However, residents will be able to submit feedback through February.

When asked if the Park Board might look at turning portions of its parks into urban farms, Cannon said that was one potential part of a final plan.