In the early 2000s, Groundwork helped form the Northwest Michigan Food & Farming Network, the goal of which is to build up Northwest Michigan’s agricultural future by identifying areas of need throughout the region’s food system and coordinating action to address them. The network includes people from many points in the food system— farmers, food pantries, nonprofits and others joined in a highly collaborative spirit.

We also support the Local Food Alliance of Northwest Michigan, which works to enhance the culture of local food and farming in the Northern Farms Foodshed. The service area is centered in Emmet, Charlevoix and Antrim Counties in northwest Lower Michigan but also reaches into bordering counties.

On a national level, Groundwork Center is a Participating Member of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. Through our partnership with NSAC, members of our team attend monthly calls and share alerts for federal policies impacting local, sustainable agriculture systems, including Farm Bill implementation and COVID aid package strategies related to local food systems.

For more information about the regional farming networks we work with, please contact Groundwork's Local Food Policy Specialist, Jen Schaap.