In Northern Michigan Kids news, schools across northwest Michigan have been serving up local food experiences in cafeterias, classrooms, and school gardens, and we’ll be sharing some of those stories each month. It’s a concerted effort to get kids excited about eating healthy food. And, wow, does it show.
Yet despite technology’s advancements, the last time I checked food isn’t grown by the judicious application of ones and zeros. Websites don’t plant seeds, and microchips don’t worry about organic certification audits. I’ve never known a software company to bring a handful of loam to its nose and smile at its richness, or let slip a tear of joy at the birth of a calf. With technology taking over our lives, is agriculture still relevant in a world racing to leave old ways behind? Solidly I say the answer is yes.
On October 11, MLUI will present Harvest@theCommons, a community farm-to-table event that will feature the best ingredients northern Michigan has to offer. You are invited! Not only to the event, but to help generate a buzz about all the good work this community is doing. The task is simple:
“Rebuilding the Foodshed: How to Create Local, Sustainable, and Secure Food Systems,” by farmer and university professor Philip Ackerman-Leist, is the third book in the Bob Russell Resilience Reading Project. He discusses how we came to the largely industrial food system that we have today, where it’s often easier for a school in our region to purchase lettuce from California, for example, rather than from farmers right down the road.
We’re two weeks away from the deadline to apply for a scholarship for the Fall 2014 Master Gardener Training Program. Applications must be received by August 6th. Follow this link to download the application.*
One of the things that struck me about northern Michigan is the high quality of life. Part of that characteristic is the access to fresh and high quality produce. I have immensely enjoyed the opportunity to go the farmers market and to get to cook my own food.