Midwest Food Connection's 30th Anniversary Celebration!
Join Midwest Food Connection to celebrate 30 years of food education!
JUST ANNOUNCED: The event is being catered by Vinai and will include featured speaker Lachelle Cunningham, local chef and founder of Healthy Roots Institute.
2026 marks 30 years of seedlings, taste tests, classroom visits, and shifting eating habits with Midwest Food Connection.
Food will be provided and there will be opportunities to see our work in action through mini lessons. Following the lessons, the evening will conclude with a short program celebrating everything we've accomplished in 30 years. More details will be updated here as we have them.
Catering is being provided by Vinai, a Hmong fusion restaurant created and owned by Yia Vang.
Our featured speaker is Lachelle Cunningham, local chef and founder of Healthy Roots Initiative.
Midwest Food Connection is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that reaches students across Minnesota's Twin Cites metro and surrounding areas with exciting food education programs. Our lessons encourage students to explore healthy foods, plant their own vegetables, and reduce their food and packaging waste. Learn more about our work at midwestfoodconnection.org
Good to know
Highlights
- 2 hours 30 minutes
- all ages
- In person
Refund Policy
Location
Hook & Ladder Theater
3010 Minnehaha Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55406
How do you want to get there?
Agenda
Doors Open
Check in, grab some food (catered by Vinai), and be in community with Midwest Food Connection! There will also be a cash bar, with drinks available for purchase.
Featured Speaker: Lachelle Cunningham
Chef Lachelle Cunningham is a culinary changemaker, food justice advocate, and community healer working at the intersection of culture, wellness, and entrepreneurship. She is the founder of Healthy Roots Institute, owner of City Food Studio at 38th & Chicago, the site of George Floyd Square in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Executive Director of Frogtown Farm, an urban agricultural hub in Saint Paul. Through culturally grounded food education and holistic business development, Cunningham empowers individuals and communities across the Twin Cities, Minnesota, and beyond to nourish themselves and build sustainable, community-rooted food enterprises. A 2024 Bush Fellow, Josie R. Johnson Leadership Academy Fellow, and Board Chair of the Neighborhood Development Center, and Board Member of KOMBOA Land Trust, she is transforming the food system from the ground up, centered on people, rooted in culture, and driven by the belief that everyone deserves access to abundance.
Mini Lessons
Experience our lessons through our students' eyes! Our educators will present several mini lessons that attendees will rotate through to see what its like in the classroom with MFC.