Living Earth Center| Sustainability| Education| Community

Featured Programs and Interests

Through our Community Food Connection Program LEC directly connects people to the land and to healthy, organic produce. We are able to confront the issues of food insecurity and sovereignty in our community collaboratively through a multi-faceted approach. From youth educational programming to navigating ways for emerging growers to enter the local food economy, LEC works with our Community Partners to create pathways to food and land access and agency over food choices.

Community Garden

Located on the former farm site of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, the Living Earth Gardens provide a beautiful organic space where neighbors and family can gather, grow food, and nurture a self-sufficient empowered community.
Individual gardeners as well as community partners (MY Place, MRCI, and MNSU College of Allied Health and Nursing's Eng-AGE-ment Garden) tend their plots together. Our garden is diverse as Mankato itself – including everyone from native Minnesotans to new immigrants. Ten different languages are spoken by the 120+ gardeners.
Community Farm

Since 2021 LEC has worked in partnership with Blue Earth County to manage the Blue Earth County Community Farm. The Farm is home to our Food Donation Program. All food grown through this program is donated back to into the community. Under the guidance of our Farm Manager, both individuals and groups volunteer their time to tend to these plots.

Since 2022 the Farm has also been home to our Emerging Growers Program, which addresses food sovereignty in the Mankato area by partnering with community members who have expressed concern that they are unable to access culturally significant foods and/or want to grow larger amounts of produce but do not have access to land.
Events, Workshops and Programs

Living Earth Center provides opportunities where minds can be opened, ideas can be shared, and growth can take place through series of workshops, events, and conferences offered throughout the year. Honoring all spiritual traditions and paths, Living Earth Center also holds gatherings to honor seasonal transitions with ritual and reflection. Find out more.
Get Involved

Living Earth Center believes that each person makes a valuable contribution to the world and systemic change can be traced all the way down to the individual level. Whether you are interested in donating, volunteering, gardening, learning or making meaningful shift, you are helping to create a ripple effect within the local and greater Earth community.
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Sharing Common Ground

Like a healthy eco-system, we believe that everyone has something important and valuable to offer to our local and greater Earth community. We believe in bringing people with different backgrounds and strengths together to share common ground over food, learning and story-telling. We invite you to join us in celebrating nature's abundance and honoring our shared resilience and responsibility in the interconnection of everything.

Historic Big Red Barn

News and Updates

September 4, 2023

Meet Our New Digital Content Manager: Jacob Bases

byLiving Earth Center

We are excited to announce that we have hired Jacob Bases as our new Digital Content Manager. We sat down with Jacob to learn a little more about him and what exciting plans he has for LEC!

LEC: Tell us a bit about yourself - who you are, how long you've been in the Mankato area, what else you're involved in work-wise and hobbies.

JB: My name is Jacob Bases, and I have been living in Mankato for ten years after returning home to be closer to my family. I've always had a passion for the outdoors, participating in hobbies such as mountain biking, hiking, birding, and photography. Additionally, I enjoy creating various types of music from programming synthesizers to playing Bass Guitar and Baritone Ukulele...

September 1, 2023

Give to Grow Mankato 2023 Finishes Strong!

byLiving Earth Center

Our 2023 Give to Grow Mankato Campaign finished strong with a total of $27,139 raised to support our Community Food Connection Program!

A huge thank you to our generous Living Earth Center community. As a small nonprofit, every donation makes a difference and we could not operate without the support from each and every one of you.