Grupo Ayé has a bona fide local connection to the Grand Traverse region. Band founder Robert Mulligan spent part of his childhood in Omena in Leelanau County, where his mother lives. We caught up with Robert to learn more about the band, about his love for Latin music, and about his northern Michigan roots.

One Windmill, 3,400 Solar Panels, and Traverse City’s Clean Energy Goal
Traverse City is quickly transitioning from a fossil fuel-dependent city in a fossil fuel-dependent state and becoming a statewide leader on renewables and energy efficiency, as it supports jobs in the new energy economy.

Celebrating Alice Waters with Local Harvest Restaurant Series
To celebrate Alice Waters’ visit to the National Writers Series, the first-annual Local Harvest Restaurant Series will feature a variety of Grand Traverse area restaurants, all of which will demonstrate their devotion to the local food community by featuring a “Harvest Week Special” menu item that is either 100 percent locally sourced or a recipe from one of Waters’ cookbooks.

Oryana Community Co-op Announces Fourth Annual Farm Tour
Join our partner Oryana Community Co-op for their fourth annual Farm Tour on Sunday, Aug. 27 from 1-4 p.m. at Idyll Farms, 10901 E Peterson Park Rd, in Northport. Get a first hand look at where Oryana gets some of the delicious, local goat cheese you’ve come to know and love.

Think Like a Chef, Cook like a Dietitian, Eat Like a Local Farmer
Doctors typically learn little about nutrition, much less cooking, in medical school. But combining those topics with medicine is a trend that’s garnering headlines for Harvard Medical School with a conference it holds in California wine country; and Tulane University in food-rich New Orleans. Now, a local food version of this idea is launching in Traverse City, starting with a Culinary Medicine conference in September that will be a pilot for future programs. The theme: Think Like a Chef, Cook Like a Dietitian, Eat Like a Local Farmer.

Eye-opening Data Reveals Percentage of Struggling Families
Newly-released data from the United Way shows that nearly 40 percent of people in northwest Michigan struggle to meet a basic standard of living. United Way defines the working poor as living at or below a “household survival budget” of $19,872 for a single adult and $58,740 for a family of four.