Ground Level Blog

Subscription farms boom in Minnesota
The number of CSA farms has grown dramatically in Minnesota, from just eight in 2004 to at least 100 today.
Ground Level launches a look at why some manufacturers have difficulty filling jobs and why it’s only partly because of a skills gap.
Metro area creeps farther into rural Minnesota
The federal government has expanded the Twin Cities metropolitan statistical area from 13 counties to 16, adding three outlying “rural” areas.
More than a third of Minnesota’s counties are experiencing more deaths than births, but a few places with high immigration in recent decades run counter to that trend.
Skills gap? What skills gap?
A new Department of Employment and Economic Development study finds that Minnesota’s “skills gap” — that is, the mismatch between what employers need and what job-seekers have — is more nuanced than has been portrayed.
Seeking a better way to sell a sustainable farm
Given high farm land prices and a large number of farmers reaching retirement age, John Mesko of the Sustainable Farming Association has started a counseling program to keep farms organic and sustainable.
Chuck Marohn, whose non-profit Strong Towns looks for ways towns and cities can improve their livability, has been illustrating foibles and triumphs via video.