Building local partnerships to sustain local farm festivals and relocalize markets

As of 12/31/2024 we had overlapping funding with a related project that we wanted to use up before we switched over to this SARE funding in January 2025. We don't have any project outcomes to report for this reporting period. 

Grant outcome 1: Team leaders expand their awareness and familiarity with local partners who want to support local foods. 

Outcome 1 was achieved with each event organizer team creating asset maps of their communities. This was measured by tracking the number of new local partners identified between the initial asset mapping project completed in 2023 and the asset mapping completed in 2025. All 14 event organizers added non-agriculture and food businesses to their community asset maps which lead them to build relationships across sectors, including economic development, healthcare, media, nonprofits, and local businesses. This allowed them to expand and diversify their partner and sponsor opportunities which also increased their networks for linking farmers to restaurants, co-ops, and other community buyers.

Kelley Rajala, the Aitkin Food As Medicine Festival event organizer, identified a key regional dynamic early on: only about 20% of Aitkin residents are full-time, while the majority are seasonal or weekend visitors. This shaped her strategy to build a local food system that could engage both locals and visitors.

Number of new potential partners identified in the 2025 asset maps: 32

Grant outcome 2: Team leaders gain confidence in their ability to form collaborative working relationships with a diverse range of local partners, including businesses, civic organizations, grassroots groups, and others. 

Outcome 2 was achieved through hands-on support from the team coaches, including monthly cohort virtual training, and sponsor outreach templates. Through the coach’s guidance and training, the 14 event organizers developed strong outreach, coordination, and fundraising skills, shifting from initial discomfort to confidence in engaging partners and sponsors. They developed strong communication and coordination skills across diverse stakeholders, and they strengthened their fundraising capacity through implementing tiered sponsorship models and diversifying their funding sources.

For example, Hannah Bernhart, the event organizer for the Butcher’s Dinner and Barn Dance event, was very reluctant to ask for financial sponsorships in her community. She felt awkward asking for support when she thought many local businesses did not have money to spare. However, her team coach talked her through it and convinced her there was no harm in asking, “I wouldn’t have done it if I wasn’t a part of the grant, and the template we got made it easier”. She was able to secure sponsorship funding from Compeer Financial and her local veterinary clinic. She also received an in-kind donation of 5 volunteers that was incredibly helpful. All of her sponsors from her 2025 event reported being extremely satisfied with their participation and have already committed to supporting the event again in 2026. “Being a part of the cohort was super helpful in figuring out the parts I didn’t know…I feel like I can totally do it on my own now!”.

At the end of this grant, leaders demonstrated the ability to independently manage complex partnerships and that they are prepared to sustain and grow these efforts beyond the grant period. They improved their ability to manage complex initiatives, coordinated multi-partner events involving farms, businesses, artists, and community groups, strengthened systems for logistics, outreach, and event planning, and demonstrated confidence in continuing work independently. All 14 event organizers expanded their networks beyond agriculture to include economic development, healthcare, media, businesses, and community organizations. They developed mutually beneficial, lasting relationships, retaining sponsors, vendors, and partners. These relationships became mutually beneficial, resulting in enthusiastic ongoing sponsorships and repeat collaborators in 2026. 

Grant outcome 3: Local partners expand their vision of what is possible (in terms of local foods as a driver of sustainable development) when communities come together. 

Through the post-event interviews with local partners and sponsors, we were able to determine that local partners expanded their understanding of local food as an economic and community development driver. Feedback from partners reflects a meaningful shift in mindset and a stronger long-term vision. Events were consistently described as high quality, impactful, and worth sustaining. Sponsors expressed enthusiasm about returning and even deepening their involvement over time, signaling a ripple effect beyond the original programming.

Partners increasingly recognized the role of local food in placemaking and strengthening community vitality. Through Kellye Rajala’s leadership and outreach for her event, the Aitkin county Economic Development office shifted to recognize farms as part of the regional economy and became an event sponsor. The local hospital, Riverwood Hospital, also sponsored the cooking demonstrations and in turn decided to integrate more food, nutrition, and public health programming into their own work.

In Clover Valley, partners began to see local food systems as connected to tourism, small business growth, and regional identity. Media partners, like the local radio station, connected arts, culture, and agriculture through music and storytelling. "Just a fantastic event...it's been an amazing thing to witness as it's the biggest thing to be held in our township...it was not something that people anticipated could happen here" - Leo Babeu, radio host.

Grant outcome 4: Farmer team leaders expand the number and quality of local food festival partnerships, leading to increased local sales. 

This grant outcome was achieved as farmer team leaders expanded the number and diversity of partnerships in their communities, strengthened existing and new market channels for local food sales. While large-scale wholesale relationships remained challenging, small-scale buyer connections increased. Leaders identified barriers (e.g., scale, coordination) and began addressing them through relationship-building. The initiative demonstrated incremental but meaningful progress in direct market access. Total sales increased by $11,411 in 2025 which is more impactful since the number of events went from 9 in 2024 to 7 in 2025. The increase in local sales was due to: strong vendor sales, new and sustained buyer relationships, growth in direct farm sales and agritourism activities, and event revenue growth.

In Aitkin, restaurants began planning more of their menu items around local farm products, sourcing directly from local farmers. The development of tools like the Aitkin Farm Trail Guide also strengthened buyer-producer connections. The Farm Trail Guide identified 18 farms plus retailers and restaurants sourcing local food. It served as a marketing and networking tool to connect consumers and buyers with producers while integrating into ongoing community initiatives like Aitkin Eats, extending its impact beyond the event.

At multiple events, farms identified viable direct-to-consumer and small-scale wholesale channels like food trucks, co-ops, and breweries. In New London cooperative purchasing (e.g., co-op buying leftover produce) reduced waste and increased revenue. Overall, the project created new buyer relationships and market channels for farmers. Participation led partners to recognize new market and business opportunities and increased direct-to-consumer sales opportunities.

Overall Project Outcomes

Overall, the grant objectives were achieved. The event organizers gained confidence and capacity in fundraising and event management and successfully built cross-sector partnerships that integrated agriculture into broader economic community development. Local partners expanded their perception of local food from a niche activity to a central driver of economic development, health, culture, and community building. The events continued to increase the sale of local food in 2025, increasing market access and economic opportunities for small farms both through wholesale and direct market opportunities. Community awareness, participation, and education around local food was expanded. And all 14 of the event organizers established sustainable partnerships and programming that will continue beyond this grant.

Through the support of this grant we are one step closer to building a connected regional food network. Our work has sparked interest from others in replicating similar local food initiatives in their communities and we hope the Come & Get It! Guide to Creating an On-Farm Food Festival manual will serve as a guide to continue the ripple effects of this work.

"I feel like we have moved the needle with local foods in Aitkin county because of the C&GI program...I couldn't have gotten this far this fast without RTC's support" - Kelley Rajala

"I haven’t had a lot of time to invest in something like this but I’ve always seen a need for it so being a part of this and being able to build a brand around it is really special" - Candace Stock