A reader drew our attention to a tweet by the Land Stewardship Action Fund:
.@LSAFnow had great meetings with candidates this summer, and while not endorsing, we're clear that @epmurphymn has shown the investment in our issues & commitment to work with us that we are looking for in the next #MNGov. #mnvalues #MNPrimary https://t.co/nwuU5tqpfV pic.twitter.com/bzfPzCd1iR
— Land Stewardship Action (@LSAFnow) August 13, 2018
The tweet links to this thoughtful letter about tomorrow's DFL gubernatorial primary:
Dear Friend,
Tomorrow (Tuesday, Aug. 14) is the primary election in Minnesota. We strongly encourage supporters of Land Stewardship Action to VOTE and to make our voices heard on the important issues and decisions facing our communities and state. Also, we want to tell you about the great meetings we have had with candidates this summer, and how we have seen one candidate in particular, Rep. Erin Murphy, show the type of investment in our issues and commitment to work with us that we are looking for in the next Governor.
We are writing to you as the Board and staff leadership of the Land Stewardship Action Fund, which was established by the Board of the Land Stewardship Project earlier this year to be able to more powerfully engage with candidates and to advance the values and goals of LSP during an election—stewardship of the land, advancing a sustainable food and farming system, and building healthy, just and prosperous communities. To accomplish these, we believe regular people need more of a voice in the decisions that affect our lives, and so we must build a government and an economy that are people-centered, not corporate-controlled.
Throughout 2018, Land Stewardship Action has engaged with key political leaders in the state, and especially in the Governor’s race. We have:
Organized meetings in rural communities around the state made up of Land Stewardship leaders with major candidates;
Met with candidates as part of a powerful alignment of groups in Our Minnesota Future;
Co-organized a 200-person event in Willmar this spring where candidates heard from and talked with rural members of Land Stewardship Project, ISAIAH, and CURE.
Through these interactions, one candidate has particularly stood out: Rep. Erin Murphy. Land Stewardship Action is not endorsing a candidate, but we wanted to share why Rep. Murphy has demonstrated the kind of leadership and approach to governing that we believe is needed.
This summer, Land Stewardship Action leaders held three powerful, in-depth rural meetings with Rep. Erin Murphy. Rep. Murphy asked for these two-hour meetings to happen monthly, and she followed through. The meetings were in different parts of the state (Sibley County, Fillmore County, and Carlton County).
Each meeting featured a different group of 10-15 leaders from our organization – primarily farmers, but also people who run small businesses or are in other ways involved in their community. The meetings focused on what the participants experience as the real challenges and hardships facing farmers and rural communities, and on the bold solutions needed to actually address the scale and scope of the problems rural communities and small and moderate-sized farmers face everyday. Not only did Erin show up, but she connected—listening, asking in-depth questions, responding, thinking, and co-creating solutions and ways forward that we can pursue together if she is elected.
We asked Congressman Tim Walz and Attorney General Lori Swanson to hold similar meetings with Land Stewardship Action leaders, but they would not meet. Also, the Republican candidates have refused to engage with Land Stewardship Action or the Our Minnesota Future groups in a conversation about the challenges facing our state and how they will govern alongside people, despite attempts to engage with them throughout 2018.
Murphy, on the other hand, has dug into conversations that can move us forward. As an example, here’s what we posted on the Land Stewardship Action Fund Facebook page after the meeting in Carlton County on August 9:
Yesterday was Land Stewardship Action’s third meeting this summer with Governor candidate Erin Murphy, at the Food Farm in Wrenshall. Murphy has followed through on her commitment to meet regularly with Land Stewardship leaders about the real challenges facing us and our communities, and the bold solutions we can achieve together.
Yesterday, farmers and small-business people from Carlton and St. Louis counties talked about what they want to see a new governor do to advance small- and moderate-sized farms and local businesses—to create a shared prosperity, healthy food, and healthy land. Produce and small-scale livestock farms like Food Farm are vital to renewing the landscape, building lively rural communities, and providing a pathway for new farmers—but public resources and agencies provide little or no support.
This can change! Actions that people in the meeting suggested include focusing the MN Dept. of Agriculture on supporting the vast majority of MN farms that are small or mid-sized; health care reform and support for day care; ending subsidies & tax breaks for mega-farms and investing instead in small business development and local food system infrastructure. Rep. Murphy was very supportive, asking in-depth questions and contributing ideas and approaches to take. Land Stewardship Action in action — another great meeting!
So, we encourage you to vote tomorrow, and also in November, to help elect the leaders who will work with us to make a positive difference in our state.
In the meetings we’ve held and other conversations and events (like the April 29 forum in Willmar), what we have experienced and observed from Rep. Murphy is a sincere commitment to working alongside ordinary Minnesotans, in our communities and with our organizations, around the serious issues that we know best. We believe Erin Murphy is the candidate who as Governor will most effectively move the priorities of Land Stewardship Action, and encourage you to take that into account as you prepare to vote.
In our experience, people know that real change is needed. They know that corporate power has gone too far, and that a corporate-controlled economy and politics does not mean good things for people or the land. They know that a healthy food system, widespread opportunity to farm, and health care for all are achievable, if we are committed and work for them. So vote tomorrow for whomever you believe will work with us to advance stewardship, justice, and a shared prosperity on the land and in our communities.
Sincerely,
Mark Schultz, Executive Director, Land Stewardship Action Fund (LSAF)
Andrew Ehrmann, Northfield, LSAF Board
John Fisher-Merritt, Wrenshall, LSAF Board
Laura Frerichs, Hutchinson, LSAF Board
Sylvia Luetmer, Alexandria, LSAF Board
Beth Slocum, Welch, LSAF Board
Jonathan Maurer-Jones, Staff Organizer, LSAF
We urge our readers in Minnesota who are able to vote in tomorrow's primary to do so.
Photo: Via the LSAF's Facebook page, Erin Murphy getting around a rural landscape.
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