More than 60 people from nearly 50 farm operations crowded into the NW Michigan Horticultural Research Center on Feb. 11 to hear Atina Diffley deliver one of the most effective workshops in the five-year history of MLUI’s Get Farming! program.

More than 60 people from nearly 50 farm operations crowded into the NW Michigan Horticultural Research Center on Feb. 11 to hear Atina Diffley deliver one of the most effective workshops in the five-year history of MLUI’s Get Farming! program.
We are advocates. That might be obvious to you, but for those of us on the staff and Board, winnowing down the many, multi-faceted roles we play to a single word is a big challenge. But behind it all is one specific mission: We advocate to protect Michigan’s environment, strengthen its economy, and enhance our quality of life. And we take that mission very seriously.
Still mulling over whether Proposal 3, the renewable energy standard ballot initiative, will skyrocket your electric bill as utility ads claim? Well, here’s a true story: Consumers wants to raise residential electric rates by an average of more than $11 per month, and it has nothing to do with renewables. And, in the year ending in July, DTE Energy raised residential rates by an average of 11 percent-largely due to the rising cost of coal. Now, that’s skyrocketing!
Three states with renewable energy standards similar to those in Michigan’s Proposal 3-Minnesota, Illinois and Colorado-are seeing little or no rise in electricity prices, undermining claims that the ballot measure will sharply increase energy costs.
Schools throughout northwest Lower Michigan are cooking up locally grown food for lunch this October and celebrating the second annual National Farm to School Month.
As Michiganders prepare to vote on expanding the state’s renewable energy production, one community’s approach has led to continued strong support for their new wind farm, Michigan’s largest.