Feds give Minnesota unprecedented $200 million to reduce carbon footprint in the food system

Minnesota’s food system — from electrifying farm vehicles to improving refrigeration in independent grocery stores — will get a nearly $200 million emissions-reducing boost from the federal government.

The Environmental Protection Agency announced the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency had received what one federal official called an unprecedented investment of grant dollars to tackle looming climate crisis across agricultural and food distribution systems.

“I’ve been with EPA a long time, and I’ve never seen dollar amounts come through [like this],” said John Mooney, director of EPA’s air and radiation division for the region spanning Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan.

The money stems from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, a signature climate policy signed by President Joe Biden and passed by Congress that has been billed as the largest environmental federal expenditure in U.S. history, accelerating the nation’s path toward net-zero carbon emissions.

The MPCA is one of some two dozen recipients of the $4.3 billion in pollution grants disbursed by the EPA. Those include $50 million to New Orleans to decarbonize transportation systems and promote urban forestry, $37 million to the Nez Perce Tribe in Oregon and Idaho to weatherize housing and replace wood stoves, and $100 million to Virginia to reduce emissions across coal mines and landfills.

Minnesota’s project goals — drawing down air pollution across a food sector often characterized globally as accounting for 20% of all planet-warming gasses — remain lofty. But state and federal officials noted Minnesota’s approach stood out for the focus on agriculture.

“Obviously agriculture is a really important part,” said Kate Knuth, MPCA’s climate director. “But it’s not the only part of the food system, and we’re excited about taking a holistic approach to reducing emissions in the food systems overall.”

Knuth said the funds for the Minnesota Climate-Smart Food Systems project will go toward incentivizing a range of activities, from restoring peatlands once dug up for cropping systems to electrifying some farm country vehicles. Other targets of the program will be boosting biofuels, installing climate-friendly refrigerants in small and independent grocery stores, and efforts designed to prevent food waste.

Last Thursday, Gov. Tim Walz visited a farm northwest of Rochester to highlight a range of his administration’s farm policies, from funding to help usher in a new generation of younger farmers into landownership to grants to improve soil quality for cleaner air and water.

“Whether it’s through drought or increased rainwaters, we’re seeing some of these weather patterns change in a fairly significant way,” Walz said, highlighting the role of farmers in adopting new practices.

In a statement on Monday, Walz touted the new funding, calling Minnesota a “national leader” in developing sustainable solutions to climate change.