This op-ed first published in the Traverse City Record-Eagle.By Nicholas JansenRural Clean Energy Organizer This election year, no matter where they fall on the political spectrum, young people in Michigan have a real opportunity to decide our future. Historically,...
Celebrating 10 years of Farms, Food & Health Programs
Photo above: by Gareth Hubbard Asparagus brought me to Northern Michigan eight years ago, and the promise of using local food to improve public health and personal wellness continues to hold me here. In 2008, I was living in Pittsburgh, and my then boyfriend invited...
Resilient Relationships, Resilient Supply
This article is the first in a three-part series in which we explore the work being done to expand local food economies along Michigan's west coast. The program is one of just a handful of similar USDA pilot programs in the entire nation, and they are...
Pilot program: 5 schools in Char-Em get funds for staff focused on local food
(We're stoked about this!) Northwest Lower Michigan is part of an emerging national movement to fund school staff who focus exclusively on local food in school meals and on nutrition and garden education for students. Five schools in the Charlevoix-Emmet Intermediate...
GW co-hosts federal U.P. Listening Session
Groundwork Center was proud to co-host the recent—and first—Federal Listening Session for the Upper Peninsula and Northern Lower Michigan. Groundwork believes in the importance of federal and state support to increase access to local, affordable, nutritious food, to...
Who’s feeding our kids: The Farmer’s Perspective
Above: Kyle Mitchell, Mitchell's Patch of Blue farm. Photo courtesy of Kyle Mitchell. On the road that leads from the farm to the school cafeteria tray, we encounter many folks along the way who contribute to feeding our kids. Who’s Feeding Our Kids is a series where...