Co-op kitchens create a space for Minnesota food producers to get creative

DETROIT LAKES, Minn — From potatoes to peppers to tomatoes, the food grown by farmers near the western Minnesota town of Detroit Lakes will soon be put to more and better use. Potatoes grown in the Red River Valley could be mashed and diced for school lunches. Peppers could become salsa and hot sauce. Tomato seeds could be harvested for the future.

Such are the possibilities are envisioned by members of Manna Food Co-op — which like other cooperative grocery stores is independently owned by local residents who run it and shop there — with the help of a new commercial kitchen.

Funded by a federal grant, the kitchen will strengthen Manna’s connection to local food producers, a core principle for co-ops. “Farmers can come and process food for themselves and their own separate business, or