Living Earth Center Community Farm continues to grow

MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) - Connecting people and tackling food insecurity through education is what shapes the Living Earth Center; collaboration makes their farm grow.

“I really wanted to help provide back to the community that I’ve been able to be a part of for a few years,” said Community Farm Manager Madison Vandersee.

The Living Earth Center is a community farm and a growing space that allows food to grow throughout the summer season and they provide it back to the community through different food security programs.

“We have about an acre down there and half of that acre is used for us to grow food using volunteer services,” said Vandersee. “So ,anyone from the community can come out and help us grow that food and then in the fall, it’s donated to different programs including ECHO Food Shelf, FOCP in the Mankato area.”

Partnerships with organizations and the community is what makes the Living Earth Center thrive in making sure everyone gets what they need when it comes to food and nutrition.

“Our Legacy is making sure that that concept of connection is building our community,” said Laura Peterson, the Director of Living Earth Center. “I’ve seen such cool stuff spiral out of some of the things that we’re doing the Partnerships that we have and a lot of other organizations that we work with that are doing amazing things within the community.”

Education is also an important element to spreading the word about food insecurity and growing sustainable food.

“It’s so nice to meet those people and meet so many different people and how they want to be involved and getting especially youth programs and groups out there getting hands on and getting to see kids get get into the soil and learn about it and be connected in those ways,” said Vandersee.

Overall, it takes community support to ensure that the Living Earth Center represents all people because everyone deserves healthy, sustainable food.

“I like to see everybody everything that is represented within the Mankato Community,” said Peterson. “You can see within our growing space as whether that’s at the community garden or the community Farm. It’s a really good representation of what the community represents people of all different backgrounds kind of come together. And our hope is that they feel like they have a sense of place there. They feel like they have a connection and I think that that’s so important to the health and vibrancy of our community.”

Those wanting to be involved and learn more can visit the Living Earth Center website.

Volunteers are always welcome to garden and learn to make a meaningful impact.

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