When people think of Minnesotan foods, they often think of lutefisk, foods-on-a-stick at the State Fair, and the infamous “hot dish” (that’s casserole to the rest of you). But Minnesota’s food culture began long before both the State Fair and the waves of Scandinavian settlers arrived in the 1850s. In the lakes and rivers of northern Minnesota, the Anishinaabekwe (Ojibwe) people were harvesting Manoomin*—better known to most of us as wild rice.

According to Slow Food USA, wild rice isn’t actually rice at all: it’s an aquatic grass that grows best in the Great Lakes region of the Midwest. It’s the only native North American grain, and the Anishinaabekwe name (written as “Mahnomin” or “Manoomin”) means “the good grain”. And it is good! Wild rice is more flavorful than the short grain white rice most of us grew up with, with a nuttiness that makes a great pairing with mushrooms.

Wild rice has grown on its own in Minnesota for centuries (it doesn’t need to be planted or tended) and the traditional way to harvest the grain is by canoe. But water pollution and river and lake damming are changing the ecosystems in Minnesota’s waterways, making it harder for wild rice to survive in the places it’s always grown. The heritage wild rice market is also being threatened by genetically modified wild rice grown in large-scale paddies in California. 

Luckily, heritage wild rice has cheerleaders. Winona LaDuke (an Anishinaabekwe enrolled member of the Mississippi Band Anishinaabe and two-time Green Party candidate for Vice President) lives and works on the White Earth reservation in north central Minnesota. Her company, Native Harvest, sells traditionally harvested wild rice, along with buffalo summer sausage, fry bread mix, and other recipes and crafts that have been with the Anishinaabe people for generations. The company is part of the larger White Earth Land Recovery Project, and its mission is “to continue, revive, and protect our native seeds, heritage crops, naturally grown fruits, animals, wild plants, traditions and knowledge of our indigenous and land-based communities”. By creating a market for locally grown, traditionally harvested wild rice, LaDuke and Native Harvest increase the chance that those plants and environments will be preserved.

Any market requires both a seller and a buyer, and if you want to try what Native Harvest is selling, head to Common Roots Cafe in the Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis. Common Roots is seriously committed to sustainable sourcing: 86% of their purchases are local, organic, or fair-trade. That includes everything from bagels made with local flour to the brews on tap from Surly Brewing, so it makes sense that they’d be serving a food as Minnesotan as wild rice.

What’s surprising is the form it takes. The Wild Rice Burger at Common Roots isn't a side dish; it's the main event! The combination might sound strange, but it has a perfect veggie burger texture: crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside. Topped with pickled red onions and a delicious aioli, served on a super fresh ciabatta-like bun, the burger is as satisfying as a beef burger but much more interesting. The server at the counter joked with me about how I’d like it cooked (turns out veggie burgers don’t get cooked “rare” or “well-done”) but you really do have a lot of options: the Wild Rice Burger can be prepared vegan or gluten-free.

The Wild Rice Burger at Common Roots represents two companies who are both invested in the local food economy getting together and coming up with something unexpected and fresh. As we go into the new year, we’ll be keeping our eyes open for more inspiring partnerships in the local food world. In the meantime, grab a bite at Common Roots, and if you end up with a hankering for wild rice, the good stuff is only a click away.

*A note: English spellings of words from Native American languages vary quite a bit—I have seen the same author use two or three spellings in the same article. I’ve tried to be faithful to how the spellings were used in my source material.