Interfaith Sustainable Food Collaborative organized the FaithLands National Conference 2025 in St. Paul, Minnesota on September 17-19. Over the course of the conference over 30 people participated representing 13 states and over 20 organizations. The gathering allowed for collaborative and robust conversations and the exchange of resources to advance FaithLands work.
community garden in Minneapolis, MN during 2025 FaithLands tours.
Hosted at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, the conference’s agenda featured 5 farm and garden tours and 11 different presentation discussion sessions. The tours of local faith community sites used for food production and agriculture based sites in the Greater Twin Cities region included: Good Courage Farm in Hutchinson, St. Kate’s/CSJ Food Access Hub in St. Paul, St. Gerard Community Garden in Brooklyn Park, Bryant Park Community Garden in Bloomington, and Harmony Gardens in Maplewood. Each of these sites showcased unique and successful models of faith communities using their land to create food access and give back to their communities. In addition, participants toured Good Courage Farm, a unique nonprofit agrarian ministry farm owned by Rev. Kerri Meyers and organized in partnership with the Episcopal Diocese. Attendees learned about the practical maintenance of rural and urban agricultural sites and food access programs, the impacts they have on local communities, and the work and technicalities of starting such a project in their own communities.
Session topics included: Strategies for Inventorying FaithLands, Spiritual Care for Farmers, Successful FaithLands Projects and Partnership Opportunities, Incorporating Nutrition Education & Food Justice into Gardens and Farm, Farm Bill Advocacy for Resources Benefitting FaithLands Projects, and much more. With great variety in both session topics and perspectives, attendees heard from representatives of: the United States Department of Agriculture; Enterprise Community Partners; the Land Stewardship Project; National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition; RAFI USA; Tehor Kyduk Tibetan Community; and various other organizations.
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Steve Messeh, the recently appointed Director of the Center for Faith at USDA, flew from Washington, D.C. to join the conference and shared insight to how the USDA has undergone changes with the new administration. Messeh reflected on gaps in clear communication at the beginning of the transition of the USDA administration in late 2024 and assured participants of a commitment to keeping those channels of communication open. Participants were able to inquire about how changes were actually going to be instated and express the severity of rebuilding trust in the foundation of relationships with farmers, given the recent cancellations or recall of funding opportunities. With that, the small discussion sessions provided opportunities to better understand strategies for successful FaithLands practices and how attendees can collaborate and incorporate practices moving forward in their own communities.
Not only were attendees provided a number of resources to take home, but they were also provided the opportunity to collaborate and discuss in depth with expert community leaders and others passionate about moving FaithLands work forward. The size of the group allowed for deeper conversations and greater opportunity for participants to share their experiences, both successful and cautionary to what might not work out the best depending on circumstances.
Paul Fried, of Lake City Catholic Workers, stated “The Catholic Church has a lot of great things to say about land and labor, but it’s not always preached in the Church, and so it’s hard to get people to take action on those particular things. But, I think there’s always room for development there because the teachings are there.”
A particularly exciting session focused on next steps in FaithLands work over the coming year. With a broad representation from the FaithLands National Coordinating Committee as well as a passionate group of Conference attendees, there was a clear consensus of expressed interest and enthusiasm about working to move forward FaithLands work in their own communities.
Organized by Interfaith Sustainable Food Collaborative, home of FaithLands. The conference was made possible with funding from the Kalliopeia Foundation, #NoRegrets Initiative and U.S. Department of Agriculture. The conference was co-sponsored by Interfaith Sustainable Food Collaborative, Farm Aid, GROW North Texas, Methodist Theological School in Ohio, and Presbyterian Hunger Program.