Connecting goat farmers and Somali immigrants
Serdar Mamedov, an Extension health and nutrition educator, has long listened to the voices of local people who require halal and kosher foods — and helped meet those important cultural needs.
Somali Muslims want to know where their meat is coming from, including how it is raised and processed. According to Abdiaziz Odiriye, the executive director of Community Grassroots Solutions (CGS), Muslims are obligated to eat only halal meat. CGS, in partnership with Extension’s Central Regional Sustainable Development Partnership, conducted a series of listening sessions with the larger Somali community to get more information.
Today, Somali community members are establishing trusting relationships with local goat farmers in the St. Cloud area in an arrangement that benefits both — a halal-only meat processing facility and supply chains to support it. Mamedov has partnered with agencies, farmers, businesses and faith communities to promote sustainable local goat farming and reduce reliance on imported, lower-quality frozen meats.
Highlights
- The U of M Tourism Center held the second annual Agritourism Exchange at Redhead Creamery, attracting 65 people to share insights on diversifying farm income through tourism.
- U of M Farm Family of the Year: The Kolb family (2026)
- Cora Y., a Stearns County 4-H’er and a Minnesota 4-H State Ambassador, traveled to Pennsylvania for a state exchange and attended the National 4-H Conference.
- Extension health and nutrition staff partnered with the Minnesota Department of Health and Beyond the Yellow Ribbon to tailor the Walk with Ease program to military veterans.
- Minnesota Master Naturalist training: Big Rivers, Big Woods biome and Prairies and Potholes biome (Collegeville)
- SuperShelf: Catholic Charities Emergency Services Food Shelf
- The Climate Adaptation Partnership is making available new resources on future groundwater and soil moisture conditions for Stearns County, allowing communities to address issues like irrigation needs and drinking water availability based on long-term precipitation changes.
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About the Minnesota 87 project
Spend time in any Minnesota county, and you will almost certainly encounter University of Minnesota Extension. Our faculty and staff, volunteers, participants, alumni and partners are woven into the fabric of rural, urban and suburban Minnesota life. This project showcases Extension in action through photos, stories and a sampling of the many ways Extension has touched the lives of people in every county.