News & Views
Michigan public school students will enjoy Michigan-grown fruit starting this school year, thanks to a partnership with Cherry Capital Foods and Chartwells School Dining Services....
Cotton candy and elephant ears are typical fare at fairs, but locally grown fruits and vegetables have become a new tradition with the Taste the Local Difference: Cooking with Kids at the Fair event at the Northwestern Michigan Fair....
A few weeks ago, the farmers market doubled in size. Summer had truly arrived and all of the stands were overflowing with new produce—local cherries in particular. All the farmers offered free samples, and there were few shoppers who didn’t give in. Cherry season had begun. To celebrate the occasion, MLUI’s Communications Manager James Russell and I decided we wanted to learn more about the cherry harvest. So we traveled up to Johnson Farms on Old Mission Peninsula to see it first-hand....
The Michigan Land Use Institute honored Senator Debbie Stabenow with its Helen Milliken Legacy Award at a July 27 dinner in honor of the former first lady and Gov. William Milliken. MLUI created the award to recognize those who carry forward Helen Milliken’s legacy of environmental advocacy and civil discourse. Stabenow is the first recipient. ...
Taste the Local Difference (TLD) has had a decade of success connecting farmers with consumers. The TLD Food & Farm Guide is the iconic symbol of our small-farm community in northwest Michigan. In annual, pocket-sized, editions, it has listed a growing number of farms and food system partners. This year, we’re taking the successes of TLD and giving them an upgrade....
The statewide, nonprofit program helps financially struggling families eat healthy while supporting business for farmers. It doubles the money that people who receive SNAP Bridge Card assistance (food stamps) have to spend with local farmers at farmers markets. That means it’s helping federal dollars governed by the Farm Bill have much more of an impact on local farm economies than, say, the grocery section at Walmart....
Despite chilly temperatures and the constant threat of rain from the dark skies, Central Grade School was buzzing with activity on June 2nd as teachers and faculty, parents, and students came together to celebrate their new school garden and participate in some spring planting....
We are happy to introduce our new summer intern, Zoë McAlear. She’ll be helping out in our communications department, so you’ll be seeing her name pop up often over the next two months. Rather than let us tell you about her, here’s a brief introduction in her own words. ...
Schools in Leelanau, Grand Traverse, Benzie, and Antrim counties will celebrate the inaugural School Garden Week next month to draw attention to the diversity of school-based gardening projects in our region. From June 2 to June 6, the public is welcome to visit schools for “Garden Tour Days” to learn more about these projects, participate in fun garden activities, and meet the staff that helps run these programs....
A plastic dishpan of potting soil, a cup of seeds and some small plastic baggies made their way around a conference room at the Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District. These simple materials evolved into tiny greenhouses and a mini-science lesson for teachers to engage their students on local food and agriculture. The Michigan Land Use Institute, TBAISD and FoodCorps teamed up to plant this seed—literally and figuratively—that local food and agriculture can be an integral part of the classroom....
A recent overhaul of the federal nutrition rules for schools is meant to provide healthier options for children. But the new requirements—including larger servings of fruits and vegetables that local farmers could grow, less sodium and fat, and more whole grains—have sparked a heated debate nationally and right here in Traverse City....
Over the last decade, though, through the relentless and often creative efforts of organizations and entrepreneurs, a now burgeoning food and farming sector is evident at every turn. On Tuesday, March 12, the fruits of this work were celebrated during the fifth annual Farm Route to Prosperity Summit at the Hagerty Center in Traverse City. ...
MLUI is packing up and heading south, leaving behind eight-month winters and the first part of our name....
More than 115 people representing all aspects of the local food system gathered Tuesday to celebrate recent successes in promoting local food and make plans for the future...
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....
Firefly Restaurant will help area schools purchase fruits and vegetables grown by local farmers by donating $1 of each dessert sale to the 10 Cents a Meal for School Kids & Farms program, a project of the nonprofit Michigan Land Use Institute....
FoodCorps, a national organization affiliated with AmeriCorps, is accepting applications through March 24 for up to 130 positions nationwide—including two in northwest Lower Michigan based out of the Michigan Land Use Institute’s Traverse City office....
Central Lake Elementary School celebrated a rainbow of fruits and vegetables last Thursday with a little help from FoodCorps. ...
Farmers and other producers looking to succeed in the wholesale marketplace are invited to an upcoming workshop....
Helen Milliken joined the Michigan Land Use Institute board in 1998, but her work inspired the core values of the Institute when it was founded in 1995. Helen and Gov. William Milliken were among the first to highlight the connection between a clean environment and a strong economy—a philosophy that continues to guide our efforts today. ...
