Recently there was a get-together in the North Metro, that gave people a chance to learn about growing solar-powered food.
“This event is an AgriSolar farm to table which lets people taste the great foods that are grown underneath solar panels,” said Stacie Peterson from the AgriSolar Clearinghouse.
Agrisolar eating events are becoming more common.
Said Peterson: “We do these all over the country.”
Strong push to grow local
The farm to table sampler took place at Connexus Energy in Ramsay, which has rows of solar panels next to its facility.
“They’re huge supporters of AgriSolar,” Peterson said. “We love working with them.”
Plenty of people showed up to taste solar grown food prepared by nationally known chefs Mateo Mackbee and Erin Lucas.
“We have lamb from Minnesota native landscapes,” Peterson said. “We have different salads. We have drinks with solar grown honey and solar grown gin.”
“We try to purchase food from our farmers that we can then make available to food shelves, or even our affordable grocery programs,” said Sophia Lenarz-Coy from The Food Group, a non-profit based in New Hope. “Just trying ways to increase access to food.”
There is a strong push these days to produce and grow local food.
“Minnesota really needs a robust local food system,” said Lenarz-Coy.
Agrisolar is becoming trendy, but this alternative way of farming is not a fad. It is a glimpse into the future of food production.
“We’re doing this to help create community and show how delicious this food can be grown under the solar panels,” Peterson said…”There’s a huge community building up around this and people get really excited about it.”
“I think what we learned, especially during the pandemic, is that our food system has some fragility to it,” Lenarz-Coy said. “Right? We need to keep building up a strong, local food system.”
Farming barriers
On a cool day in Ramsay, with angry storm clouds in the sky, people seemed happy as they tasted fresh solar-grown products. The food and drinks were free because the Department of Energy funds these events.
“We work with a lot of people who want to get into farming but have a lot of barriers,” Lenarz-Coy said. “They might be farmers of color, or women farmers. It’s hard to get a loan. It’s hard to find land. What we’re trying to do is figure out is the land between the solar panels a good option for folks to maybe find a long-term lease and have access to grow produce.”
“I think you’re seeing this all over the country and once people hear about it, it just makes sense,” Peterson said. “They hear about the stacked benefits of agriculture and solar, and agri solar and they want to do it too.”
Peterson says some benefits of Agrisolar include increasing pollinators and using less water, which cuts down on costs. Minnesota is one of the top states in solar grown farm to table food production in the US.
