Communications Manager with MN350
In this season’s 2nd episode,”Changing the Course of a Neighborhood,” volunteers Shannon Lippke and Jeff Diamond interview three board members of the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute (EPNI): Dean Dovolis, Karen Clark, and Cassandra Holmes. For years, EPNI has fought on behalf of Minneapolis’ East Phillips neighborhood, a majority BIPOC community with a history of rampant air and soil pollution. EPNI has proposed converting a dormant 7.6-acre warehouse into an indoor urban farm facility, featuring hydroponic and aquaponic food production spaces, as well as affordable housing units, a job training center, and a solar array. However, the city has proposed to demolish the building and use the site for a new water yard facility. Our guests discuss life in East Phillips, the history of environmental racism the neighborhood has endured, and the benefits the urban farm project could bring.
Listen to the episode to find out how you can support EPNI’s fight to change the course of its neighborhood. Or search for Nourish by MN350 on your preferred podcast player.
In “Heart Work,” we dive into the story of Frogtown Farm, a 5.5-acre urban regenerative farm and food hub in the Frogtown neighborhood of St. Paul. The farm is a space for knowledge-sharing and fostering community, from the crops they produce to the partnerships they build as they expand access to fresh produce.
MN350 Food Systems volunteer Mary Clare McAleer interviews Chris Mann, the farm manager at Frogtown Farm, to discuss how the farm came to be, their conservation practices, and how the non-profit is deeply rooted in the community. You can listen to this episode here, or search for Nourish by MN350 on your preferred podcast player. For more information on Frogtown Farm, visit them on Instagram or on their website.
Sarah Riedl lives in South Minneapolis with her partner, two children (ages 6 and 4), and two dogs (ages 12 and 10). She loves teaching her kids to cook “planet-saving meals” and has been an aspiring gardener for more than a decade. She dreams of either successfully producing her own food someday, or living in a society where regeneratively produced food is the norm — whichever comes first. She is a communications manager at MN350.
