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 intended to demonstrate how local food economies can  bring more resilience to the nation’s food supply, support family farms, and bring the healthiest possible food to our people. In this piece, Groundwork Food & Farming Program Director Jen Schaap reflects on a recent meeting that brought together dozens of participants in this exciting and innovative program that could bring important transformation to how we grow, distribute, and eat food.

The “Resilient Relationships, Resilient Supply” project, supported by USDA Regional Food Systems Partnership funding, builds upon partnerships to connect people to people, people to resources, and people to money, all in an effort to strengthen the web of regional food entities across lower Michigan’s Western Lakeshore Region. The project’s service area stretches from the Mackinac Bridge south to Ottawa County, and includes 16 counties: Emmet, Charlevoix, Antrim, Grand Traverse, Leelanau, Benzie, Kalkaska, Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Mason, Oceana, Newaygo, Muskegon, Kent, and Ottawa. The project will engage groups of food growers and makers, K-12 schools and Early Care and Education centers focused on ages 0–5 that are feeding students, food pantries and food rescue groups feeding families and limiting food waste, food distributors, and food processors. Groundwork has acted as a matchmaker in many ways for a long time, and we are so pleased that the federal government has also recognized that connecting people to people in the realm of vibrant local food is the base for a thriving regional food system.There’s a reason we call this project “Resilient Relationships, Resilient Supply.” It’s because without relationships, we are isolated, working on really tough issues but in silos (pardon the pun). Without sharing ideas, we end up reinventing the wheel in many ways. We also feel alone and overwhelmed. In silos, we don’t realize that many of us are dealing with the same major challenges as we push forward with what we love to do and what is so very necessary for the health of Michiganders.

In my opinion, the best teams lean on the strengths of each individual, and work together to reach the goal. We don’t have to strive to be everything on our own. The individual pieces make the puzzle work, overall. And we all remember the shortages in 2020. A strong regional food system means we will have food here now and when we need it most, and to do that, we must work with each other.

At the recent gathering …
I’ve been reflecting on the networks and our in-person Regional Food Systems Partnership network meeting that we hosted to cross pollinate among the many groups meeting within their specialty in the food system. One thing that keeps rising to the surface is an exercise led by Melanie Tran, our Farm to Early Care Education Specialist. (She said it was inspired by a meeting she had with one of our core regional food systems partners, Kent County’s Food Policy Council.)

Melanie’s exercise was a seemingly simple paper chain activity, and it was meant to exemplify the importance of relationships, connections, and collaboration. The large group split into small groups, and their assignment was to make the longest chain possible—but without talking, and with just a stapler, one sheet of construction paper, and scissors. Each team was required to have a link within their chain from each of the small groups. In the middle of the session, new sets of resources were revealed and hidden in the room. Teams had to decide if they wanted to spend the time looking for the new resources or focus on the process they developed. Who would create the longest chain and how would they do it? Can you guess how the longest chain can be created in this scenario?

A paper chain might sound like a small takeaway from the convening, but it was actually a large takeaway. The exercise was such a powerful physical demonstration of cooperation and teamwork, as participants began to collaborate and truly act out how much more successful the work is when we do it together.

After the exercise wrapped up, we had a large-group debrief. It turns out that working together can make a real difference! This was such a simple but effective demonstration of that.

Here are some of the things that folks shared:

• One school food staffer said, “The truth is that we are all working within the same goal. This is a reminder that it’s super easy to be in just your own space. Pause and look to see who else is out there.” 
• A community partner observed that we needed to pick up nonverbal cues when a bottleneck is happening, where people were waiting around to help. We created a new process to distribute the efforts instead of just watching one person do the bulk of the work and wait for our part.
• A new set of resources was introduced—the tape, the extra paper — and the exercise could have become more competitive. But instead, the group that found the new items shared the tools with other teams, and the large group as a whole got more done across the board.
• We reflected that when a new resource pops up, like a grant opportunity or a new market to sell to, we have to decide—is it worth the time and effort this time around? Will I collaborate with others to achieve this new thing that seems like a lot for me to do on my own? Will I let it go and wait for the next opportunity?
• And lastly, a farmer working within a farm cooperative model that aggregates food to sell locally, said, “It’s collaboration that can get us into wider and wider spaces.” 

What’s happening now—implementation of processing projects:

• Several network members are partnering up to have a light-use kitchen up and running by this fall in Muskegon County, supported by two other USDA grants. The kitchen will support the region’s farmers and schools in the district for light-use processing needs.
• A county leadership team is working to equip a licensed commercial kitchen at a community service organization in Newaygo County to be available for rent by local food entrepreneurs.
• Multiple organizations in west Michigan are partnering to host a workshop for local food processors and members of the Regional Food Systems Partnership networks to help them scale their operations and highlight the kitchens in the area that could be used for processing. The workshop will be held in Oceana or Mason County in fall 2024.    
• Partners are in the process of sourcing carrots from northern Michigan and getting them to a food processor/food hub in southwest MI, for carrot processing, which will help school staff and others use local carrots more easily.

We look forward to sharing more details as these ideas and pilots progress.

Jen Schaap, Groundwork Food & Farming Program Director
jen.schaap@groundworkcenter.org