By Pioneer Journal Staff on May 18, 2019 at 4:13 p.m.

Region Five Development Commission (R5DC) was awarded $92,500 from the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs (MDVA) through the (2018 Cycle II) Support Our Troops (SOT) license plate fund grant program. The MDVA SOT grant program offers a competitive grant process which allows organizations to apply for funding. These grants, ranging from $1,000 to $100,000, are focused on supporting and improving the lives of veterans and their families.
R5DC will use the funds to support a program for 50 veterans residing in the counties of Cass, Crow Wing, Morrison, Todd or Wadena. Participating veterans will receive a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) food package twice per month, for one year at no cost. Cooking demonstrations and classes will be offered monthly by local food experts, chefs and nutrition educators.
The goal of the VetCSA is to improve the overall quality of life for veterans and their families. This initiative delivers healthy foods and gives additional knowledge and skills on how to prepare them. Building a healthy lifestyle creates a positive effect on physical and mental health. The VetCSA brings veterans, families, growers and communities together, with food coming from Sprout MN and supporting regional growers and ranchers.
For details on MDVA's Support Our Troops License Plate program found on the MDVA Website at the following link: https://mn.gov/mdva/resources/supporttroopslicenseplates.jsp

LITTLE FALLS—Three central Minnesota chefs competed in a live cooking competition featuring mystery ingredients Friday, May 10, in front of a large crowd in Little Falls.

Taking home the 2019 Master Chef title at the Sprout-hosted event "Minced: The Finer Version of Chopped" was Mateo Mackbee of Model Citizen the Restaurant in New London. Also competing in the final round was Jenna Brower Von Siebolds of Prairie Bay Grill in Baxter, and eliminated after two rounds of competition was Tom Kavanaugh, representing the ProStart Program at Pillager High School.

This was the second year Sprout produced the live entertainment, which resembles the popular Food Network show "Chopped."

Chefs did not know ahead of time what mystery ingredients they would cook with, and ingredients represented and celebrated East African food culture. Ingredients were sourced from Somali grocery stores in St. Cloud and included goat meat, guava drink, black tea, Ethiopian spiced coffee mix and more.

Mackbee edged Brower Von Siebolds in the dessert round, impressing judges with his Ethiopian-style pancake topped with a bananas Foster topping and a fresh berry sauce. Brower Von Siebolds took home the People's Choice Award, voted on by the attending audience.

In addition to Model Citizen the Restaurant, Mackbee is also developing a new restaurant, Krewe, as well as a bakery in the 24 North Lofts in St. Joseph. The restaurant will feature a New Orleans-style menu, while the bakery will make French and Scandinavian pastries.

Judging the competition were Tomas Zimmerman, owner and chef of A.T. The Black & White Restaurant in Little Falls; Habso J. Mohamud, author of "It Only Takes One Yes!"; Meadow Roberts, 11-year-old contestant from Food Network's Kids Baking Championship; and Kara Carlisle of the McKnight Foundation.

The event was hosted by 2018 Master Chef Scotty Stocco and Brainerd Dispatch Community Editor Chelsey Perkins.

Minced was partially funded through a grant awarded to the Region Five Development Commission by ArtPlace America's National Creative Placemaking Fund. This event was presented by Sprout MN, Region Five Development Commission, Central Lakes College and Three Cheers Hospitality.

For more photos, go to https://bit.ly/2vQPfqf.

By Sheila McCoy - Staff Writer: sheila.mccoy@mcrecord.com, Morrison County Record

Signing up for community supported agriculture (CSA) shares at Sprout in Little Falls not only gives members access to fresh vegetables. It’s also a great way to support local growers and know where the food came from, said Jessie Bavelli, food hub and marketplace director.

Shareholders can choose to either sign up for a full or a half share. A full share gives members the opportunity to pick up a three-quart bushel box of vegetables weekly for the 16-week season, from about mid-June to September. 

Each box is carefully packed with a wide variety of products, such as vegetables, herbs and shelf-stable products.

What kind of vegetables are packed depends primarily on the time of the season they mature. Some of the vegetables that are included in the box are cucumbers, leeks, different types of tomatoes, hot and sweet peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant,  Brussels sprouts, carrots, potatoes, onions, varieties of squash, spinach, kale and more.

​Examples of herbs that are packed are rosemary, basil, thyme, oregano and more.

Products such as wild rice, honey, local flour breads, jams and jellies, maple syrup, fresh eggs and rhubarb are also included.

“All of the products are produced by multiple local farms. One of the benefits to the CSA model is that you have such a great variety. Through the season members can see well over 60 different products in their shares,” she said. The same amount of food in a box is given to the members who choose to go with the biweekly option. Instead of picking up the CSA share weekly, it is picked up every other week. Sprout has four pickup locations — Little Falls, Staples, Brainerd and Baxter.

Those who are interested in signing up for a CSA share can do so by visiting www.sproutmn.com and clicking on the food hub link.

Sprout works with several producers who are located within a 100-miles radius of Little Falls. Some of the growers are certified organic, while others are not certified, but follow the same principles as if they were, Bavelli said. 

The CSA program at Sprout was established in 2013, a year after Sprout was founded. It was a way to expand Sprout’s marketing effort beyond the wholesale they do with institutional accounts, such as schools, restaurants, hospitals, senior care facilities and more. They knew the community agricultural motto and the shared system would be the way to go, Bavelli said.

“CSA help enhance the relationship between the grower and the consumer of that food. That relationship follows through the whole season,” she said. “As you sign up a member, you are essentially pledging to share any potential risks that come with growing in agriculture — the weather, droughts, crop failure and pest disease. Then of course, in return, you get to enjoy the benefits and the rewards from a successful farming season.”

During the CSA season, Sprout sends a weekly email product list to its members, about where it is coming from and who the producers are. Every so often, Sprout includes various recipes in the emails with suggestions about how the members can use some of the vegetables and how to store food safely.

“One of the benefits that is really important and is why we do this work is in general to support the small family farms that are producing this fresh and nutritious food,” Bavelli said. “They are a huge asset to our community and do a lot to help and better our communities through the work they do. Without them we wouldn’t be in this line of work,” Bavelli said.
​
It is also an opportunity to educate the members on ways to enhance their culinary skills.

LITTLE FALLS — A culinary cook-off Friday evening pits three Minnesota chefs against each other in an intense kitchen showdown.

Representing their home kitchens in Pillager, Brainerd and New London/St. Joseph, each competing chef has expressed confidence in their skills to accept the culinary challenge of Minced: The Finer Version of Chopped, taking place from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday at Sprout, 609 13th Ave. N.E., Little Falls.

Representing Model Citizen the Restaurant in New London is Matéo Mackbee. Model Citizen is located inside Goat Ridge Brewing Co.

Mackbee is also developing a new restaurant, Krewe, as well as a bakery in the 24 North Lofts in St. Joseph. The restaurant, expected to open in June, will feature a New Orleans-style menu, while the bakery will be making French and Scandinavian pastries.

Representing the Pillager High School ProStart Program in Pillager is Thomas Kavanaugh, with over 40 years of culinary experience. Kavanaugh's mentorship of the high school culinary art program recently earned Pillager's student chefs third place in the Minnesota ProStart Invitational in St. Paul.

Representing Prairie Bay Grill in Baxter is Jenna Brower Von Siebolds. Although Brower Von Siebolds has been in the kitchen business for just six years, she showcases a wanderlust illustrative of a global cuisine connoisseur.

This will be the second year Sprout has produced the live entertainment, which resembles the popular Food Network show "Chopped."

"The cooking competition is one way Sprout seeks to excite central Minnesotans around locally produced food, culinary art and food culture," organizers said in a news release.

The public is invited to attend and enjoy the show, and to learn more about Sprout's food access work, of which proceeds from the event will benefit.

"This unscripted, unsifted challenge will grill three local chefs as they face off in the Sprout Kitchen Stadium" says Minced organizer Natalie Keane in a news release. "We're not afraid to whip up the food puns for this fun event. We'll need that good humor, and so will the chefs when they find out what we have in store."

Inspired from the popular competitive cooking show, Minced will create cooking challenges by the introduction of unique ingredients in a mystery basket that must be used in the chefs' dish. Community members get to watch as the mystery basket foils the plans of contestants as they serve up a dish to impress Minnesota celebrity judges, like Meadow Roberts, the 10-year-old baking pro who competed on The Food Network's "Kids Baking Championship."

Chefs will not know what mystery ingredients they will have to work with, but ingredients will represent and celebrate East African food culture. Ingredients will be sourced from Somali grocery stores in St. Cloud which carry a variety of ingredients such as tamarind, cassava, cardamom, and goat meat, all of which could end up in the mystery basket for an appetizer, entrée, or even a dessert.

The winner of the first Minced competition in 2018 was Chef Scotty Stocco, who impressed the judges in the final round with a dessert featuring pork cracklings, purple hominy and dragon fruit.

Stocco will host this year's competition and follow the chefs in the kitchen with commentary for the audience. Stocco also won the People's Choice award in 2018, which was determined by audience vote during the event. Dinner and drinks will be available for purchase from pop-up restaurants and at a bar.
​
Tickets to attend Minced are $10 per person, $25 for a family (two adults and two children) and those age 12 and under are free. Tickets can be purchased by visiting sproutmn.com/minced or the Facebook event. The audience will help determine the Popular Choice prize by casting a donation vote.

By Sheila McCoy - Staff Writer - sheila.mccoy@mcrecord.com - Morrison County Record

Three chefs — Thomas Kavanaugh, Jenna Brower Von Siebolds and Matéo Mackbee, are getting ready to compete in Sprout’s second annual “Minced.” event — the finer version of “Chopped.”

The live cooking competition will be held at Sprout, 609 13th Ave. NE, Door 8, in Little Falls, Friday, May 10, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

​Racing against time, the chefs will be making three courses — an appetizer, an entrée and a dessert. Only one can be named “Master Chef” while the others get “Minced.”

The chefs come from different culinary backgrounds and are each given a box with a set of mystery ingredients.

Figuring out what to make with the mystery ingredients within 20 minutes can be quite a challenge, last year’s winner, Master Chef Scotty Stocco knows all too well.

Last year, he and the other remaining opponent were given pork rinds to use with the dessert they were making.

Creatively, Stocco ground the pork rinds and sprinkled it over the desert.

Stocco is returning to Minced this year. Not to impress the judges with his culinary skills, but to emcee the event.

“Winning the first Minced competition was a great honor and being invited to host the second is sublime,” he said.

Natalie Keane, who is the facility utilization director at Sprout, is looking forward to seeing how the chefs will do in the event. She is familiar with all three chefs.

Chef Thomas Kavanaugh has 42 years of experience in the culinary arts and is representing the ProStart program at Pillager High School.

“He is the mentor for the program at the high school that do culinary arts training for the students. Those students showcased Thomas’ skills because they went on to win third place at the state competition, the Minnesota ProStart Invitational,” Keane said.

Chef Jenna Brower Von Siebolds works as a chef at the “Prairie Bay Grill” in Baxter and with six years has the least amount of experience in the culinary arts compared to the other chefs.

“You wouldn’t know it though by tasting her food because she cooks as if she has been traveling around the globe for years,” Keane said. “She has a wanderlust style of cooking and likes to incorporate different techniques and ingredients from various culinary cultures.”

Matéo Mackbee is a chef at the “Model Citizen the Restaurant” in New London and specialize in “farm to table” as he works with a lot of the local growers. He is also planning to open a new restaurant and bakery in St. Joseph.

With 13 years of experience as a chef, Mackbee prepares primarily creole and cajun dishes — in New Orleans style.

“What is fun about the competition is that you see the chefs and maybe you have been to their restaurants before, but in the heat of the competition, working against the timer, anyone can really come out on top,” Keane said.

This year, the style of food Sprout is highlighting for the event is east African cuisine. “I think that will be a fun twist to the event,” she said.

The dishes the chefs prepare will be judged by four people. One of the judges, Meadow Roberts, is a 10-year-old girl from Minneapolis, who competed in the Food Network Kids Baking Championship.

Habso J. Mohamud is an author from St. Cloud and wrote the children’s book, “It Only Takes One Yes!”

The third judge is none other than Tomas Zimmerman, the celebrity chef who is co-owner of the A.T. The Black and White restaurant in Little Falls.

The Minced event’s celebrity guest and judge is Kara Carlisle from the McKnight Foundation in Minneapolis.

Keane said she is looking forward to the event.

“It is the best live entertainment,” she said.

​Those who visit Minced will have the opportunity to watch a special preview of Common Ground’s final episode at 4:30 p.m. and at 9 p.m.

By Brainerd Dispatch on Mar 24, 2019 at 5:00 a.m.

LITTLE FALLS—A culinary cook-off in May pits three central Minnesota chefs against each other in an intense kitchen showdown.

This will be the second year Sprout has produced the live entertainment, which resembles the popular Food Network show "Chopped." Representing their home kitchens in Pillager, Brainerd, and New London/St. Joseph, each competing chef has expressed confidence in their skills to accept the culinary challenge of Minced: The Finer Version of Chopped, taking place 5-9 p.m. May 10, at Sprout, 609 13th Ave. NE, in Little Falls.

"The cooking competition is one way Sprout seeks to excite central Minnesotans around locally produced food, culinary art, and food culture," organizers said in a news release. The public is invited to attend and enjoy the show, and to learn more about Sprout's food access work, of which proceeds from the event will benefit.
​
"This unscripted, unsifted challenge will grill three local chefs as they face off in the Sprout Kitchen Stadium" says Minced organizer, Natalie Keane, in a news release. "We're not afraid to whip up the food puns for this fun event. We'll need that good humor, and so will the chefs when they find out what we have in store."

Inspired from the popular competitive cooking show, Minced will create cooking challenges by the introduction of unique ingredients in a mystery basket that must be used in the chefs' dish. Community members get to watch as the mystery basket foils the plans of contestants as they serve up a dish to impress Minnesota celebrity judges, like Meadow Roberts, the 10-year-old baking pro who competed on The Food Network's "Kids Baking Championship."

Chefs will not know what mystery ingredients they will have to work with, but ingredients will represent and celebrate East African food culture. Ingredients will be sourced from Somali grocery stores in St. Cloud which carry a variety of ingredients such as tamarind, cassava, cardamom, and goat meat, all of which could end up in the mystery basket for an appetizer, entrée, or even a dessert.

The winner of the first Minced competition in 2018 was Chef Scotty Stocco, who impressed the judges in the final round with a dessert featuring pork cracklings, purple hominy and dragon fruit. Stocco will host this year's competition and follow the chefs in the kitchen with commentary for the audience. Stocco also won the People's Choice award in 2018, which was determined by audience vote during the event. Dinner and drinks will be available for purchase from pop-up restaurants and at a bar.

Tickets to attend Minced are $10 per person, $25 for a family (two adults and two children) and those age 12 and under are free. Tickets can be purchased by visiting sproutmn.com/minced or the Facebook event. The audience will help determine the Popular Choice prize by casting a donation vote.

Representing the Pillager High School ProStart Program in Pillager is Thomas Kavanaugh, with over 40 years of culinary experience. Kavanaugh's mentorship of the high school culinary art program recently earned Pillager's student chefs third place in the Minnesota ProStart Invitational in St. Paul. Representing Prairie Bay Grill in Baxter is Jenna Brower Von Siebolds. Although Brower Von Siebolds has been in the kitchen business for just six years, she showcases a wanderlust illustrative of a global cuisine connoisseur. Representing Model Citizen the Restaurant in New London is Matéo Mackbee. Mackbee is also developing a new restaurant, Krewe, as well as a bakery in the 24 North Lofts in St. Joseph. The restaurant will feature a New Orleans-style menu, while the bakery will be making French and Scandinavian pastries.

Minced is partially funded through a grant awarded to the Region Five Development Commission by ArtPlace America's National Creative Placemaking Fund. Sponsorship opportunities are available for companies and organizations that want to be involved with this exciting new event, promoting culinary art, local foods, cultural connections, and live entertainment. This event is presented by Sprout MN, Region Five Development Commission, Central Lakes College, and Three Cheers Hospitality.

LITTLE FALLS, Minn. – Sprout MN is seeking four artists, artist collaboratives or organizations to partner with to creatively share their art to the Central MN area. The selected artists may use any art form or medium to create their art cart project in a way that engages community. Interested artists are encouraged to visit the Sprout Growers & Makers Marketplace on March 23rd (10AM-3PM) to understand its mission and familiarize themselves with the work of Sprout MN.

​The À la cARTe initiative allows artists to develop their art cart as an outlet for their art production, as a resource for engaging the community and as a differentiating factor and economic driver for their art business. Once chosen, the art cart will be owned by the selected artists, allowing them to bring their art to events and communities independently. This new project will also work in tandem with Sprout’s Mobile Market stops, providing additional community engagement activities and bringing a blend of local food and art opportunities to area residents.

Five Wings Arts Council and Region Five Development Commission will help facilitate the application process for artists to assist them in generating their ideas to paper. A key goal of the project is to elevate the skills and insights of area artists, which are more uniquely equipped to infuse creativity into community engagement strategies. This program is open to all artists and art mediums and works to cultivate business skills to support artist’s work by providing connections to resources. Visit sproutmn.com/mobilemarket for more details and the application process. The deadline for submission is April 1, 2019.

This project is supported in part by the McKnight Foundation, Otto Bremer Trust, and Lakewood Health Systems and is led by partnerships with Sprout, Five Wings Arts Council, Region Five Development Commission and other community partners.

​The performances are organized by the Fred Yiran Legacy Project (St. Cloud, Minn.), which honors the late artist, Fred Yiran, a master painter, instrumentalist, carver, sculptor, jewelry-maker, poet, singer, performance artist, and an arts and culture educator. Fred Yiran came to Minnesota from Cameroon in the early 1980s to to pursue education Bemidji State University in Fine Arts, as well as a Master of Arts (MA) degree in African Arts from St. Cloud State University. His legacy continues to expand knowledge and understanding of African arts and cultures through the work of his wife, Janette, who facilitates experiences like that found at the Sprout market in addition to the annual Fred Yiran African Arts Day at Lake George in St. Cloud. Fred Yiran African Arts Day 2019 will take place on Sunday, June 30th (12 p.m. to 4 p.m.).
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The public also has the opportunity to cheer on their favorite local vendor at the March 23rd market through the Best of 2019 Vendor Awards. Shoppers can pick up a ballot at the information booth and roam the market to find the vendors which appeals to consumers visually, displays a cultural origin or story for their products, depicts uniqueness of the region, and is socially engaging. Local food and art producers interested in participating can become a vendor by visiting www.sproutmn.com/vendors. The community is also invited to watch the cooking demonstration at the market, which will feature a dish with African roots. The cooking demonstration is a regular feature at the monthly Sprout markets to create a fun atmosphere while customers shop the local vendors selling handmade, homegrown food, art, and other products.

MARKETPLACE BACKGROUND
The community is invited to shop the Sprout Growers & Makers Marketplace vendors selling local food and art on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on March 23, October 26, November 16, and December 14. During these markets, through visual and performing art, culinary demonstrations, educational events and more, Sprout showcases community's assets and talents found amongst the variety of cultures across the region. In the months of April through September, Sprout hosts cultural exchange cooking classes, MINCED: The Finer Version of Chopped cooking competition on May 10th, educational opportunities for growers and artists, and Summer Harvest Dinner on July 26, utilizing food to tell stories and connect to one another.

Due to a partnership with Hunger Solutions Minnesota, families and individuals eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) can also double their dollar at the Sprout Growers & Makers Marketplace. Shoppers with SNAP can swipe their EBT card at the market information booth to receive tokens, plus an additional dollar for every dollar spent up to $10 in “Market Bucks.” Market Bucks can then be used at vendor booths during the market for any SNAP eligible items - breads, fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, poultry, dairy products, and more. SNAP is a federal food assistance program. Benefits are placed on an electronic benefits transfer card (EBT) similar to a debit card. To find out if you qualify for SNAP, call the Minnesota Food HelpLine at 1-888-711-1151 or visit mnfoodhelpline.org for more information.

The activities are funded through a grant awarded to the Region Five Development Commission by ArtPlace America’s National Creative Placemaking Fund.

Interested shoppers, growers, artists, chefs, and educators who want to learn more, visit www.SproutMN.com and follow the Sprout Growers & Makers Marketplace on Facebook.