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From harvest buckets to canning equipment, the new Food Equipment Library in Grand Marais is giving residents access to the tools they need to get cookin’. More than 25 pieces of equipment are now available at the Grand Marais Community Center for community members to borrow and use for preparing, preserving and processing local foods.
The new service comes from Northwoods Food Project, a local nonprofit dedicated to strengthening a sustainable food system in Cook County, with support from the University of Minnesota’s Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships (RSDP).
“The food equipment library was born as a way to address gaps in the local food system,” says Northwoods Food Project Project Director Kate Cowie-Haskell. “It’s here to help make high-quality food processing tools more accessible to the whole community.”
A missing ingredient
“In our region, we have an extremely short growing season,” says Sarah Waddle, the University of Minnesota Extension educator for Cook County, an ongoing partner of the Northwoods Food Project. “It’s important we think about how people can access local foods, and then eat them throughout more of the year.”
To learn more about supporting local foods, Northwoods Food Project formed a community working group. The group helped reveal gaps that were both practical and widespread.
“We learned that food processing equipment is a community need, but it’s also expensive, takes up a lot of storage space, and is often not used regularly enough to justify the cost,” recalls Cowie-Haskell.
Waddle says that’s when the idea for equipment sharing was brought into the picture.
“We had that simmering period, knowing this was something we wanted to work on, and then when we applied for and were awarded support for a project through RSDP’s Call for Ideas, that catalyzed our thinking.”
Northeast RSDP’s Tracy Chaplin connected the project team with Jane Grimsbo Jewett, associate director at the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (MISA). Jewett helped the group navigate systemic requirements and build connections with additional partners.
“She helped set us up to present to the Department of Agriculture’s Local Food Advisory Council, and she was our thought partner,” Waddle says. “She led us through areas to address, like food safety, processes and potential liabilities.”
A recipe for resilience
In summer 2025, the Food Equipment Library opened its doors, cupboards and drawers to Cook County, making it one of the first community-operated equipment libraries of its kind. Community response has been enthusiastic.
“We’ve been seeing equipment reservation requests coming in consistently,” Cowie-Haskell shares. “The apple press and the dehydrators have been very popular!”
The team says they’re happy to help local families move into winter with more nutrient-dense, affordable and locally grown ingredients. Those working the library desk have noticed patrons returning the equipment in clean, cared-for condition.
“It’s a sign of how much the community values this shared resource,” Cowie-Haskell says. She’s confident the batch of equipment will prove fruitful long after this first growing season.
Waddle agrees, “I think knowing that this equipment is available will help expand both the kinds of food and quantity of food people are producing. We anticipate a rise in community food sharing, processing, and preservation knowledge.”
Waddle says the project is one ingredient in a much larger recipe for community well-being.
“Supporting the gardeners, homesteaders and producers who feed our community is an investment that ripples through Cook County’s culture, health, and resilience. Supporting local food keeps people and places thriving together.”
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