This weekend we had a real treat, the 6th Annual Minority and Immigrant Farming Conference. This is my 3rd year attending and each year it gets better. The Minnesota Food Association (MFA), our training organization, is one of the co-sponsors of the event. Glen Hill, executive director of MFA told me that the USDA told him this was the largest gathering of its kind in the country.

Glen Hill with Dr. Yang Dao. Dr. Yang spoke about the agricultural history of the Hmong people in China, Laos, French Guiana (South America), France and the US. The conference provides information to immigrant and beginning farmes alike and was translated into Hmong (ethnic group from Laos), Karen (ethnic group from Myanmar), Bhutanese, Somali and Spanish. It felt a little like the United Nations with all these head sets and translation going on.

Hmong participants visiting with an FSA (Farm Service Agency) representative.

Mhongpaj Lee, a good friend of ours and fellow farmer translated in Hmong. She shared that she works as a translator at Hennepin County Medical Center and while there she sees lots of people from immigrant cultures with good diets (a lot of fruits and vegetables) that still suffer from medical problems including diabetes. It was at work that she learned pesticides are “insulin suppressors.” When her grandmother passed away she knew she “wanted to save the world.” She felt the best way to do that was through farming. “When you feed them you feed their health.”

Mhonpaj translating.

Whenever I go to farming conferences it is totally inspiring and I am totally on fire to get out there and grow this year. We met so many cool people doing amazing and wonderful things with our food system. If you are in the area next year the first weekend in February you really should stop by and see us. It’s free for farmers.