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Dayna M.Z. Burtness burtnesd-at-stolaf 1500 St. Olaf Ave |
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Whenever I meet someone, the second thing I usually ask after "What's your name?" is "Where are you from?" I don't want to know so I can pidgeon-hole them or anything, it's just that I can't imagine getting a complete picture of a friend without knowing a little about the place they call home. So, starting with where I'm from, allow me to introduce myself.
I'm a Minnesotan, born and bred, and Norwegian-Lutheran to top it off. Ole and Lena jokes, "A Prairie Home Companion," church basement potlucks -- all of these things make sense to me. People from the coasts have even told me that I do indeed have a Minnesotan accent (say "Minnesoootan")! However, the place where I grew up, Coon Rapids, is no Lake Wobegon. There are some unique and good things about Coon Rapids -- my teachers in elementary, middle and high school, the Coon Rapids Dam park, my family and friends and neighbors -- but for the most part, it looks like any other big suburb. We have one (or more) of practically every food and clothing chain store you can imagine, it's so sprawling you have to drive to get anywhere, and there are ugly, mushroom-colored developments eating up open space on the outskirts of town. I had a great childhood with lots of camps, lessons, friends, and activities, but suburbia doesn't really call for many practical skills, nor does it cultivate environmentally thoughtful behavior.
One might wonder how a thoroughly suburban kid ended up becoming a farmer. I'd been involved with environmental issues ever since attending camp and working at Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center in Finland, MN, but I didn't think much about agriculture until some college environmental studies classes piqued my interest. Also, my dad had grown up on the Burtness family farm in Spring Grove, MN, and he and his siblings still owned the land. I wondered: Could I make it as an organic farmer? Did I have the mind and back for it?
To explore these questions, I signed up for a summer internship at Foxtail Farm CSA in Osceola, WI. They showed me the ropes of organic growing, I loved my new skills like driving tractors and growing tomatoes and building chicken coops, and the rest is history! (A more detailed version of this story is an article I published at NewFarm.org.)
Dan Borek and I started STOGROW Farm to give Oles a chance to get their hands dirty and to increase college sustainability. We've had two very successful seasons and are working to make STOGROW a permanent part of St. Olaf.
After starting STOGROW, I continued learning more about the politics of agriculture. I created my CIS major to bring together my experience in the sustainable agriculture field, my academic research on the development of farm policy and environmental issues, and my passion for working toward a better way to feed ourselves.
Dayna Burtness -- Senior CIS Web Portfolio -- 2007