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Grassroots is Where the Change Happens
Above: Henry Red Cloud poses for a portrait in front of a solar panel array at Red Cloud Renewables, October 2022. When storms on the Pine Ridge reservation, home of the Oglala Nation, in South Dakota begin to build, they can be seen from miles away. Above rolling hills, clouds turn into waves and…
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How one Small-Scale Meat Processor in South Dakota found Success in a time of Corporate Consolidation
Even before Lemmonmade Butcher opened in January of 2019, the small-scale processor had three months worth of work lined up and has continued to operate at capacity since. Lemmonmade, named after its roots in Lemmon, South Dakota, has been extremely successful considering corporate consolidation has put 40% of small-scale processors out of business since…
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Fruit of the Coop | It’s your Business, Life and Community all Wrapped up in one
Fruit of the Coop, LLC is a 7-acre farm located in the watershed of the Big Sioux River near Brandon, South Dakota and is owned and operated by Stephanie Peterson. Stephanie attended Dakota Rural Action’s Farm beginning course to learn how to operate and succeed in her chicken egg business where she sells pasture…
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Tanya Svec | Protecting Land and Resources for the Future of South Dakota
Tanya Svec moved back to South Dakota to embrace the rural and farm lifestyle with her husband and four kids. In 2021, East Dakota Beef proposed to put in a processing plant just 1/2 mile from Tanya’s home. This video goes in depth on her perspective on the development and the role of farmers…
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Local Producers Connect Community to Food: B&G Produce and the Capital City Farmers’ MarketAbove
Above: Matt and Lindy Geraets standing in their greenhouse about 20 miles east of Pierre, South Dakota. Matt and Lindy Geraets never set out to be farmers. Standing in freshly fallen, early-November snow, the Geraets reflected on their missteps, triumphs and journey into farming. Matt and Lindy grew up near Pierre, South Dakota.…
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Rosebud Reservation Creates Economic Opportunity Through Food Sovereignty
Rosebud Economic Development Corporation (REDCO) builds Homegrown Prosperity by connecting Sicangu Lakota Oyate communities to local, traditional food. Above: From left to right, the Sicangu Food Sovereignty Initiative Staff, Aaron Mandell, Mike Prate, Edwin Her Many Horses, Rachel Kent, Matt Wilson and Hollis Vanderlinden in front of a greenhouse at the Keya Wakpala Garden,…
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Steve Helling: Prairie Hillside Garden
Above: Steve Helling at home in Brookings, South Dakota. “I want to tell my story because I think it’s important for other people considering starting out in smaller scale agriculture to see an example of what can happen down the road. Since we’ve been doing this and living this for 38 years, it has…
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Hyatt Family Farm
Above: Sean and Denise Hyatt run Hyatt Family Farm in Milbank, South Dakota. Sean Hyatt is a sustainable and organic hog producer in Milbank, South Dakota, two hours north of Sioux Falls. “In my mind there wasn’t any other way I wanted to farm, other than sustainably,” said Sean. Sean’s production methods of pork…
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Ernest Weston:Thunder Valley CDC
Above: Food Sovereignty Program Coordinator at Thunder Valley, Ernest Weston, stands in a newly built green house on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. “I remember the morning I left for school. I loaded up the Dodge pickup at 4 a.m. and then went inside to say goodbye to my family. We all…
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Jeremy and Trish:Cycle Farm
Above: Trish Jenkins and Jeremy Smith at Cycle Farm in Spearfish, South Dakota. New farmers Jeremy Smith and Trish Jenkins can’t help but laugh when they reflect on what it took to get their farm started 7 years ago. “We hung posters all over town inviting people to come to our home and talk…