About Jack

More than thirty years of family, farming, leadership, and community service.

Deep Roots in Southeast Minnesota

My family came to this part of the world in the 1850s — Swedish immigrants looking for freedom, opportunity, and a place to put down roots. They settled just up the river in Featherstone Township, in Goodhue County near Red Wing.

My great-grandfather, A.P. Anderson, farmed that land and worked as a botanist and engineer. He cared deeply about protecting the natural bounty and beauty of this part of the world.. His memoir, The Seventh Reader, published in 1932, is a collection of writings on ecology, prairie homesteading, and humanity's place in the natural world. I discovered it in college, and it changed the direction of my life.

That book is part of why I became a farmer, straight out of school. After working on farms around the country, I came back to Winona to start a farm here: Featherstone Fruits and Vegetables, a nod to my grandfather’s legacy.

My grandfather, A. P. Anderson, circa 1920.

The Farm

My wife Jenni and I started Featherstone Farm in 1994 (along with my brother, Ed) on three rented acres with one rented tractor. A year later, our first son was born. We were growing certified organic vegetables for local markets at exactly the moment people started caring seriously about where their food came from — and the farm grew by leaps and bounds every year in response to consumer demand.

Then came the 2007 flood. It wiped out most of our crop mid-season and forced us to relocate from our original home in Winona County. We moved down near Rushford, to the Root River floodplain — exceptional soil, 225 acres of it, with 118 more ridge acres added in 2010. The farm would not have survived without timely flood-recovery assistance from the state. Smart public policy works!

Today, Featherstone Farm grows more than 95 varieties of certified organic fruits, vegetables, salad greens, and herbs. We serve more than 1,500 CSA members across the region, supply co-ops in the Twin Cities, Rochester, Winona, and La Crosse, and stock Whole Foods stores throughout the Midwest. We have 12 year-round employees and 20 to 30 seasonal farmworkers — the majority of them from Mexico, working legally under the federal H-2A visa program.

Featherstone GM Nathan getting his daughter hooked on those veggies early.

Jack (center) with members of the Featherstone team.

Taste testing apples at Hoch Orchard, currently rented and operated by Featherstone.

Featherstone fruits and veggies feed thousands of people across the Upper Midwest.

Jack with some of the farm's seasonal H2A workers.

Specialized equipment like this planter helps the farm produce 95 varieties of fruits and vegetables every year.

Family

Jenni and I recently celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary. She is my best friend and one of the most remarkable people I know. She has served the Winona community for decades as a therapist and early childhood advocate — and I learn every day from her about how unfair our healthcare system can be for people who are just trying to get by, and how essential it is to invest in mental health support for anyone who needs it.

We have three amazing sons. They all grew up working on the farm and going to school public schools, where they got a terrific education. They also love sports — Jenni and I have spent a lot of time at baseball, soccer, and basketball games over the years. Two of our sons traveled to Winona's sister city of Misato, Japan, as part of the student ambassador program, and I went along as a chaperone.

Family is the foundation of a good life.

Public Service

My grandmother was the first woman elected to the Red Wing City Council. She taught me early that public service matters — that a community only works when people show up and give back. Winona and this whole district have given my family so much; I’m glad to be able to give back.

I'm proud to serve on the Winona Area Public Schools Board of Education — as both a school board member and a public school parent. I've volunteered for sports and arts programs in the public schools for decades. In the late 1990s, Jenni and I worked with neighbors to convert Ridgeway Elementary, a small rural school in southern Winona County that was facing closure, into Ridgeway Community School — one of Minnesota's first rural conversion charter schools. All three of our sons attended Ridgeway. I've served two terms on the Rushford Community Foundation Board, and I'm a member of the Rushford Peterson Valley Chamber of Commerce.

As your State Senator, I will work to represent everyone in this district — people who voted for me and people who didn't — with the same dedication and open mind I bring to everything else I do.

My grandmother, Elizabeth Hedin, served on the city council in Red Wing, MN.

Being sworn in to serve on the Winona Area Public Schools Board.

This Place

I fell in love with Southeast Minnesota watching neighbors come together after the 2007 flood. I've lived here for more than 30 years, and I love this place more with every passing year — the bluffs, the river valleys, the Root River bottom, the communities.

I love working with my hands, whether that's native habitat restoration in the bluffs or a landscaping project around the property. Our family has always enjoyed the local music and arts scene and community events throughout SE Minnesota. And growing up playing golf in the small towns of this region, I still get out on the course when I can — usually with my brother, my sons, and their friends. The annual Ridgeway School fundraising tournament every August is a tradition I look forward to every year.

Starting a vegetable farm and building an unusual small business from scratch has been a unique challenge — one that has forced me to solve a million problems, large and small, for more than 30 years. I will put that experience to work for you, every single day, as your State Senator.

Having a laugh with my neighbor, Sis Howard.