December 26, 2008
Lansing Passes a Farm-to-School Test
Michigan’s lawmakers and the governor just gave school children, farmers, and the state’s economy a tasty end-of-year holiday present: Legislation ...more

December 11, 2008
Local Food Means Local Infrastructure
When most people hear the word “infrastructure,” they think of roads and bridges or water systems and communications towers. But infrastructure is ...more

December 2, 2008
Welcoming Local Food Businesses
In early 2008, schools all across the country were throwing away hamburger patties, burrito filling, and other beef products after a federal recall of millions ...more

November 26, 2008
Entrepreneurs: Growing Local Food, and a Movement
Wayne Kyle, who grows about 1 million pounds of blueberries each year, sees a lot of good in re-localizing agriculture, both for his business, which is gaining ...more

November 23, 2008
Local, State Officials Can Boost Local Food Economies
Michigan families and businesses are rebuilding regional distribution systems to bring more good, locally grown food to more people. There is already great ...more

November 20, 2008
More Michigan Farms, Food Firms ‘Thinking Local’
The quest by consumers for local food is opening doors for local farms, food businesses, and communities. But moving through those doors is challenging. ...more

November 16, 2008
Michigan Tastes Local Food's Potential
Lee Arboreal’s farm is growing, but not by competing with California lettuce or Chilean strawberries. It is producing products for Michigan’s ...more

August 11, 2008
4-H, Farm-to-School Meet at County Fair
It’s county fair time, when the scent of cotton candy, smoked pork sandwiches, hay, and manure mix in the air. And, at the Northwest Michigan Fair, ...more

July 24, 2008
KC Food Pioneer: ‘Yes You Can!’
This year, the Michigan Land Use Institute celebrated the publication of its fifth annual Taste the Local Difference farm food guide with a special event: A ...more

July 21, 2008
Programs Grow Local Food, New Farmers
It was a picture perfect July day when teenagers Molly Fish, Chris Steffs, and Carmen Ortiz arrived at Meadowlark Farm. The three, part of a youth entrepreneur ...more

June 26, 2008
Herbie the Love Bug Rides Again!
It’s 1974, I’m 10, and my sister and I are watching Herbie the Love Bug Rides Again, the hit movie about a lovable Volkswagen who saves a little ...more

June 9, 2008
Keeping Up with the Jones, Tastefully
Sometimes keepin’ up with the Joneses is a good thing. That’s when it’s called inspiration. Consider these vastly different lunch menus: One ...more

April 21, 2008
Farm-to-School Success Stirring State Action
A Michigan lawmaker and a state agriculture agency are each taking steps to make it easier for schools to serve more locally grown fresh foods to their ...more

March 19, 2008
N.W. Michigan Growers, Educators Pack Farm-to-School Conference
More than 300 people attended an historic conference in Traverse City last week to learn about purchasing, preparing and serving healthy, locally grown food at ...more

March 16, 2008
State Law Slows Farm-to-School Progress
Here we were, 330 of the region’s professionals in school education, nutrition, and health, working to nudge fresh, wholesome local food into the center ...more

March 7, 2008
Raising a New Kind of ‘Eater’
I had breakfast with Marty Heller and Michelle Ferrarese at their farm on the kind of February morning that makes most people want to go back to bed. But they ...more

February 7, 2008
Prosperous Farms, Well-Fed Kids:
When Frankfort-Elbert high schoolers staged a “strike” over the quality of their cafeteria food two years ago, their timing was perfect: School ...more

August 30, 2007
New Leelanau Extension Director Has ‘Perfect Job’
Years of doctoral study convinced Rob Sirrine that, when it comes to educating growers, it’s about a lot more than telling them how much nitrogen ...more

August 25, 2007
Making Room for Fresh Food, Healthier Communities
Each week, Bryan Poirier looks forward to the fresh salad greens, brilliant red peppers, and juicy heirloom tomatoes his family gets from nearby Meadowlark ...more

June 14, 2007
Leelanau Group Eyes Different Way to Preserve Farms
Most Sunday afternoons a small group of local people meet in a Leelanau County living room to discuss a very big idea: making it easier for new farmers and ...more

June 4, 2007
Up North, It’s Local Food Time
After PBS food show host Eric Villegas visited a school and a restaurant in northwest Michigan that serve locally grown food, he declared the area comparable ...more

May 18, 2007
Did SOP Move Lawmakers?
One of the busiest people at the Michigan Land Use Institute’s recent Seeds of Prosperity conference was veteran lobbyist Jean Doss. ...more

April 26, 2007
Idealism, Opportunity Build Hot New Market
Kris Horton is the most prominent cheese seller in newly vigorous Portland, Me., and not only because her store’s coolers are full of specialty cheeses. ...more

April 11, 2007
Young Farmers Defy Ownership Odds
After Katie Brandt graduated, she landed her dream job as a farmhand. Though she earned little for her hard work, Ms. Brandt did not mind, because her work ...more

March 21, 2007
Wanted: Cheap Land, Good Advice
Fred Hempel’s land, currently covered with nitrogen-fixing blue beans, will soon sprout specialty tomatoes, peppers, and salad greens. Once ripe, ...more