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Get Baking with Local Ingredients

If you're like us, December has you busy in the kitchen baking up cookies, bars, and other tasty holiday treats! Make your recipes even more delicious by using local ingredients like rich milk and cream, eggs, butter, and sweeteners like honey and maple syrup! Look for Minnesota Grown at your local grocery store or find a producer near you in the online directory.

Recipe: Mulled Wine

Minnesota's cold climate is no barrier to making fine wine! This holiday, get cozy with a warm mug of mulled goodness, compliments of a local winery. Find this recipe and more in the winter issue of Minnesota Grown's seasonal magazine, Living Local, available to browse online.

Farm Feature: Far North Spirits

Pour something truly special this season with an exceptional whiskey from?Far North Spirits. The farm, distillery, and tasting room are located just 25 miles from the Canadian border, but you can find their rye whiskey, bourbon, gin, and rum at many stores around the state as well as online. The story of Far North is one of family legacy, regenerative agriculture, and the pursuit of crafting exceptional spirits. The distillery is proud to be one of just a handful of estate distilleries nationwide that grows their own grain. Similar to the approach in the wine industry, they focus on varietals, resulting in complex and distinct flavors in the finished spirits.

Holiday Shop at a Winter Farmers' Market

It's the perfect time of year to visit a farmers' market for gifts and goodies! Local producers have meat, cheese, and winter vegetables to round out your holiday table and beautiful winter d?cor to make your home a winter wonderland. Surprise your host with a bottle of pure maple syrup or a unique gift from a local artisan. We wouldn't say no to some local jerky in our Christmas stocking!

In the Twin Cities, the North Loop Winter Market on Saturday, December 16, is a benefit for the Minnesota Farmers' Market Association. Shop handmade crafts and delicious treats while supporting local farmers. The first 500 attendees will receive a Minnesota Grown reusable Swedish dishcloth!

Minnesota Grown Announces Contest Winners

Farm to School District of the Year Three Minnesota school districts have been named a 2023 Minnesota Grown Farm to School District of the Year. This first-ever statewide contest recognizes schools for their exceptional efforts to serve and promote foods grown in the state to their students. Judging was based on several factors, including the variety of local foods offered in school meals, the number of producers the districts buy from, and activities they do to promote and teach about local foods.?

Retailer of the Year Seven Minnesota grocers who promote locally grown and produced products have been named a 2024 Minnesota Grown Retailer of the Year in partnership with the?Minnesota Grocers Association. ?We commend these seven grocers for their creative efforts to promote fresh, local foods from Minnesota Grown members,? said MDA Commissioner Thom Petersen. ?When consumers have the chance to eat more foods grown and produced by their neighbors, it benefits Minnesota?s farmers, grocers, and communities.?