Minneapolis tattoo artist trying to be what remains rare in Minnesota: a Black farmer

But this year, a farmer from Beltrami County, backed by the conservative Pacific Legal Foundation, sued to block the program on the basis its eligibility requirements discriminated against the white plaintiff. In response, the Legislature changed the program’s eligibility, dropping priority for minorities and focusing, instead, on specialty crop farmers and lower-income growers.

Sen. Aric Putnam, DFL-St. Cloud, said the new language focuses on “market conditions,” but would “still, by and large, reach the same population we were trying to reach before.”

For Ellis, the journey to pigs, chickens, and homemade ketchup from his garden really began in 2011. That’s when he got sober and started buying food for his children.

“I was always wondering why I got some anxiety in the grocery store,” Ellis said. “I’d get into the store, and wonder, ‘who buys all this [stuff]?”

But when he lived off Franklin Avenue, a neighbor kept a potted garden. She gave him a fresh tomato.

“I was like, ‘Oh my God. What is this? I definitely wanted to come up with a way [to grow this].’”