All Aboard the Train to Tomorrow

Pulling off Interstate 90 at the Jackson exit, the rolling hills of this Des Moines Riverfront town lure you to a community that successfully blends and celebrates its pioneering past with a business present -- strategically mixing farming, manufacturing and technology.

All Paper Recycling, Inc. creates environmentally responsible products and building materials from one hundred percent recycled paper, cloth, and plant fiber.

The Angry Trout Café on Minnesota's north shore serves fresh, delicious foods made from organic and locally grown ingredients. Owners George Wilkes and Barb La Vigne believe that making good environmental choices lead to a better business.

A group of apple growers in southeast Minnesota formed the Apple Crisp Cooperative to work together to develop new products and markets.

With a vision of how to make their farm a more "interesting and profitable place to live" and with the help of a moderate grant, the Aspelunds are recreating their farm sustainably with pigs, poultry, apple trees, and plum trees.

Badgersett's 160 acres are utilized in the growing of hazelnuts and chestnuts for purposes of commercial food production, biomass, and direct sale to market.

Bayfront Harvest Festival focuses on urban-rural partnerships with mission of bringing "producers and consumers together to develop a healthy and sustainable local food system."

Avid gardeners since childhood, Kathy Botten and Ruth Capp founded BC Gardens, an organic vegetable, herb, and flower garden, in 1998.

Roger and Michelle Benrud's 267-acre farm has been in the family since the 1940's. Through a careful system of rotational grazing the Benrud's have found a way to farm in balance with the land.