Margaret M. Manchester Writes

I have become obsessed with agriculture. Yesterday we drove more than 500 miles across southern Minnesota, a regional economy based on agriculture and ag related businesses.

If you’ve never been on the Great Plains, it will be hard for you to imagine the fields of crops extending to the horizon, dotted occasionally by dairy farms and small towns. (I don’t want to keep saying “as far as the eye can see.”) Bernard said it was like a desert, but with grass. I know the farming life can be lonely, but also that community is extremely important.

We stopped at a FarmAmerica Welcome Center because I was looking for more information about this way of life. The lady there couldn’t help me but she directed me to GreenSeam LLC, a regional agricultural collaborative. GreenSeam’s goal is to “ bolster the growth of the food and ag industry by strategically attracting, building, and empowering new and existing businesses, their workforce, and the communities they call home.” Here is some economic data about the region:

We passed by a massive ethanol production facility. There were tanker cars lined up on the railroad tracks for almost a mile waiting to be loaded with this renewable fuel. It represents the synergy between agriculture and manufacturing in this part of Minnesota.

Whenever I visit a new place I try to imagine how I would live there. It occurred to me that running out of sugar or a needing a light bulb would become a major excursion because of the distances. Kids must celebrate Halloween differently. I don’t think I am cut out for this kind of life, but I admire those who do.

We arrived in Sioux Falls yesterday and checked out the falls where the Big Sioux River cuts through Sioux Quartzite, or ‘pink rock’, The rock was quarried, often by prisoners, and used to build some of the historic buildings in the city. Of course, these were all lands belonging if to the Sioux Indians, but that’s a discussion for another day.

We ate dinner last night at a restaurant in Sioux Falls called Roam Kitchen and Bar. It is a really cool new restaurant that blends the rustic and the contemporary. You can see some of the murals in the photo to the left. . The woodwork is dark and is evocative of the old frontier bars, especially since they serve a huge variety of whiskeys. The kitchen features wood-fired ovens.

Roam’s philosophy is “We wander, we gather, we roam.” At first, I thought this was a reflection of life on the frontier during pioneer days. As we were leaving , I noticed a huge wooden plackard hanging in the entry. “It takes a community to build a restaurant” is branded at the top of the plaque. More than 25 different businesses , including local bank and insurance companies , architects , architectural woodworkers, glass suppliers, HVAC engineers, kitchen equipment suppliers, local mural artists, lighting suppliers, and other contractors involved in building the restaurant. Many of the patrons were locals as well.

Although we didn’t drink any whiskey, we loved our meal, the vibe, the whole experience. It pulled together my day’s thoughts about community and life on the plains in a tasty way.

Thanks for checking in.

Margaret