College debts hold back economic recovery
|
Rising college debts are holding back recovery in the housing markets while housing costs converge with college debts to also hold back recovery for the broader U.S. and Minnesota economies.
Commodity markets flip-flop on consumers, rural Minnesotans
|
For several years running, livestock producers struggled with production costs as everything from droughts in cattle country to high feed costs in dairy, pork and poultry areas made producing profits a big challenge for farmers and ranchers. Continue Reading
The cooperative response to living on the edge, and frontier
|
Cooperative business leaders and community development activists will study the almost invisible but 230-year history of African American experiences with co-ops, including credit unions and mutual insurances, at a series of major events this month in the Twin Cities.
Three cheers for Title IX, Mo’ne, Maya, Lindsay and all the Lynx
|
The Little League World Series just ended and the whole world now knows about Philadelphia’s talented Mo’ne Davis. The second round of the WNBA gets started Friday night and our Minnesota Lynx will be trying for a third national title in four years. Continue Reading
Finding new keys to land ownership, careers in farming
|
At a creative farm south of St. Paul near the town of Coates, two things about fruit, vegetable and horticultural growing are immediately clear. You cannot plant and raise perennial crops when renting land on a year-to-year lease. You cannot even think about having an orchard unless you own the land.
Affordable rent gap widening across Minnesota
|
Rising rent prices and falling household incomes continue to put the squeeze on housing costs for Minnesotans in the lower income brackets, the Minnesota Housing Partnership found in its annual study for 2014, and the gap between incomes and rental costs are especially acute in rural Minnesota. Continue Reading
OPINION | The question for jobs and markets: “For whom?”
|
Minnesota and the Twin Cities metro area have been dished a steady diet of good, healthy news about job numbers and unemployment this spring. What we don’t know yet is whether statistics will pay the grocery bill.
Food, farming, and football connected by research
|
For most Twin Cities residents it’s easy to overlook the close ties between the University of Minnesota and the state’s small towns. If you take a second to think about it though, the connection is clear. As a land grant university, they’re closely related through agricultural research, football, and a number of other fields of study.
Fear and loving at the Great American Think-Off
|
“Love or fear: which motivates us more?” Continue Reading
Local food production reaching capacity
|
A case study of the cooperative food system in the Twin Cities and surrounding area shows enormous strength for local foods, but it also reveals that local food production, marketing and retailing may have reached current local capacity. Continue Reading