Angela Dawson & Nathan Ratner Explain Minnesota’s Edible Market, Great Rise & 40 Acre Co-Op.

Has Minnesota become the land of milk and honey for edible brands? We discussed that, along with local sourcing, social equity, The Great Rise, 40 Acre Co Op., and more with Nathan Rather and Angela Dawson. 

CashColorCannabis: I’m honored to speak with both of you today about Minnesota and some of the great work you are doing to push legalization and social equity. So, if you don’t know anything, please introduce yourself. And let us know what you do and how you operate in this cannabis space.

Angela Dawson: My name is Angela Dawson. I’m a fourth-generation reclamation farmer.

As a fourth-generation reclamation farmer, farming was lost in my family two generations ago, and along with 98% of black farmers that were dispossessed of their land and lost their farming legacies in this country. Many people have hesitated to reclaim their family’s farming legacy. I’m the first one of the legacy of those grandparents who lost the farm to decide to become a full-time farmer. 

CashColorCannabis: I’m sure that being a full-time farmer comes with its own set of issues. 

Angela Dawson: It is not without its challenges. Farming chose me. There was a time in my career when I had a crossroads to decide where I wanted to be in the next 20 years. I was in corporate America, and I felt like I had reached whatever the glass ceiling was for black women here in Minnesota. I dealt with my barriers when I decided to become a full-time farmer. I ended up co-founding an organization called the 40 Acre Cooperative. The 40 40-acre cooperative is a co-op of farmers working to create their resources within agriculture. I’m very excited about our conversation today about how reclaiming farming links to cannabis.

CashColorCannabis: What prompted 40 Acre Co-Op to encourage growing cannabis?

Angela Dawson: We decided to prioritize hemp and cannabis as our primary crops to grow to create economic sustainability for our co-op. 

CashColorCannabis: Before the interview, you spoke to me about using farming to bridge a gap in the Black community. Speak to us about what that means to you. 

Angela Dawson: I see it in two ways. Even though people in your generation are disconnected from farming, I think people started to understand how fragile our food system was during the pandemic. There became a greater interest in agriculture and food, sourcing our food, and finding out where our food comes from.

Then of course, the second thing is the legalization market, right, like now that we have this cannabis that’s available in more states, legally, we have to start thinking about the source of that, right.

So, there’s a greater interest now in farming and food and sourcing our food and where our foodstuff comes from. Then, of course, the second thing is the legalization market. Right now that we have cannabis becoming available in more states legally, we have to start thinking about the source of that, right?  That’s another medicine. That’s another food in the marketplace. And so we’re starting to be more intentional about the sources of things. Between the need for food justice and social justice, I’m connecting with people and bridging that gap with farming and multigenerational no conversation.

I think when you add the two, it can become more and more attractive to people in your generation. 

CashColorCannabis: Minnesota looks to become another state that decides to go legal. Why do you feel like it’s the right time for Minnesota to take these next steps? 

Andrea Dawson: I’ve heard some of my southern friends say that they call Minnesota the Mississippi of the North because of the disparities that exist for people of color here regarding necessary quality-of-life measures like home ownership and food access, like health indicators and education indicators. Those are why we decided to organize—the center of our cannabis equity conversation around these disparities in Minnesota. 

Now that Minnesota is talking about legalization let’s figure out how we can center this equity conversation to put Minnesota in perspective of the rest of the country that is also looking at legalization right. 

One of the things about Minnesota is that even with all of those horrible disparities for people of color, Minnesotans are super competitive about being the best at things. We like to be the smartest, the first, the number one and have the highest number of something great. But what we’re doing with the Great Rise campaign is letting people know that Minnesota actually has some areas that need to be addressed. Especially when it comes to equity with people of color that live in this state, so that’s part of what we wanted to ensure that people understood: even though people are legal, states are legalizing all over the country; what are their equity numbers looking like?

CashColorCannabis: Explain to us what the Great Rise is and how you and Nathan came to work together.

Angela Dawson: I can say first that through a fantastic set of coincidences, I was introduced to Nathan, co-founder of Great Rise. Who has been doing a lot of leadership work in Minneapolis, especially after the killing of George Floyd? Just out of our connection, the Great Rise was born.

Leafly: I wanted to discuss edibles with you. It seems like Minnesota inadvertently placed itself at the forefront when it comes to edibles. You can now purchase edibles in Minnesota anywhere you can get carded. Talk to us about how that law passed and what you feel it can do for the state overall. 

Nathan Ratner: Yeah. I think what many people don’t know about Minnesota is how unequal it is. Racially, we have the third worst wealth gap of any state in the nation. The difference between urban wealth and rural poverty is extreme and growing constantly. 

So, as much as Minnesota loves to view itself as a bastion of equity and enlightened thinking, the reality is far from that. As Angela mentioned,  cannabis presents tremendous opportunities in many different directions. For us, it was especially around how we pursue economic justice, and our firm belief with this campaign is that cannabis can be a catalyst for that. 

This brings us to where we are in Minnesota with regard to cannabis law. 

The state legalized edibles up to five milligrams per edible and 50 milligrams per bag and nothing else. So, no smoke, no flower, nothing else. Just edible. But we did it in a way that’s extremely liberal where any place that cards can sell edibles, such as gas stations and liquor stores. There are no dispensaries, there’s no special regulation. 

So how did this policy get passed? The state isn’t making any extra tax money. It’s a little bit ramshackle. It was not so accidental that we passed it. Some people shaped the legislation who knew what they were doing. They understood that this is what they could get done right now. The goal is full legalization. So what they wanted to do was at least legalize the selling of some kind and then build on that to get to full legalization because now the only way that they can go back to a place where THC is not legal at all is to take money out of people’s pockets. 

In this next legislative session, which will be this coming spring, we will get to full legalization in Minnesota. And with the partnerships we’ve already been able to forge, we think Minnesota can be the best in the nation and ensure equity within the cannabis economy.

CashColorCannabis: You have people ready to pack up and move based on the new laws surrounding edibles. What would you tell them before they pack up and head out there to strike gold in Minnesota?

Andrea Dawson: I was speaking with Minnesota Public Radio about this recently. I was asked what you have seen regarding trends, supply, and demand for edibles since the new law. What I’m hearing in the marketplace right now is that demand is surpassing supply right now. My main concern about that is that we don’t want people buying hemp from weird places to make a quick buck because demand is up. We still need to honor the supply chain to ensure farmers finally get their fair share of production. 

We also cannot forget about social equity and how important it is when we’re starting to dole out licenses or when we’re starting to think about who’s making the money.

Nathan Ratner: in terms of the policy, it’s fair to say that it is the wild west out there right now. You don’t need a special license to produce edibles or sell them. For that reason, my only caution is that the legislation will not stay the way it is now. We believe that this next legislative session is where full legalization will happen, which was the intent of the legislators and the governor. When they settled on this, they wanted full legalization this term, but it’s a split legislature. So, the Democrats control the House, and the Republicans control the Senate. So, this was the only thing they could get done. It’s just a wait-to-see moment now regarding what the regulatory environment looks like. 

For all the reasons, we think that it’s going to be an amazing state to prepare for the amazing opportunity to produce economic justice and equity. Minnesota is going to be an amazing market. 

CashColorCannabis: If people want to learn more about everything you do, from 40-acre Co-Op to the Great Rise if they’re in Minnesota, and how they can get involved with anything you’re doing. How could they do that?

Andrea Dawson: Luckily, we have very active websites on both sides. Yes, we have them. To learn more about 40 Acre Co-Op, you can go to fortyacre.coop, You can find The Great Rise here 

We have a team of people ready to respond to inquiries. We get lots of inquiries every week. And no doubt from this show. We’ll probably hear more. But also the great rise has a really important engagement.