Food & Farming Network Summit 2014 1/31/14 and 2/2/14

News of Note

While not perfect, Farm Bill is a step in the right direction

Sen. Debbie Stabenow worked tirelessly to do something rare in this Congress—actually get some work done by passing a bipartisan piece of legislation with the Farm Bill. Read more here... and find a graphic summary of WINS and LOSSES here... and more detailed analysis here and here.

Network Comments on the Food Safety Modernization Act

The Northwest Michigan Food & Farming Network is comprised of leaders, organizations and businesses
in the sectors of farming, health, economic development, land conservation, school food, retail and local
food economy initiatives in a 10-county region in rural Michigan. Click here to download full text (PDF)...

A big win for small farmers (and the eaters who love them): Grist article finds encouragement in FDA comments

Resilience or death: Preparing our farms for the end of agriculture (…as we know it) Read article here...

Upcoming Events

Alternative Crops for Northern Michigan - seminar for farmers

18 February 2014 - 3:30pm

Farm Record Keeping Workshop

18 February 2014 - 5:00pm to 7:00pm

Risk Mitigation and Production Planning for Farming

25 February 2014 - 5:00pm to 7:00pm

Financial Farming Workshop

4 March 2014 - 5:00pm to 7:00pm

Whole Farm Planning with Holistic Management AND Holistic Management Financial Planning

6 March 2014 - 9:00am

Project Notes

Get Farming! Keep Farming! Workshops are being scheduled with lots of variety in topic and location. Read more here...

Traverse City Restaurant Supports Farm to School Efforts. Click here for details...

MLUI receives grant to scale up local food in schools. More here...

Food Hub Grant -- A $200,000 grant is bringing a proposed regional food hub in Traverse City one giant step closer. Read more here...

Passing on the Farm: Farm Succession resources. Click here for information on farm succession, presentations from a workshop, links to other resources.

Wholesale Success: resources and links from the February 11 workshop are online here.

The Michigan Good Food Charter

Find information on the Michigan Good Food Charter, including links to the short Executive Summary and Full Charter, here...

Working Group reports: Farm Viability and Development, Youth Engagement and Opportunity, Institutional Food Purchasing, Food System Infrastructure, Good Food Access

Monthly Newsletters and Agenda Briefs

Policy update

Farm Bill Passes in the
Permalink Submitted by jsluyter on 26 June 2013 - 10:12am.

Farm Bill Passes in the Senate
Our friends and partners describe the bill as imperfect, but they're very thankful for the work of Senator Stabenow and others in getting it passed. Read analysis from the Center for Rural Affairs and the Senator's own comments. The focus now is on the House, which could pass their version as early as this week! Our friends at NSAC suggest "the situation is not pretty." Keep up with this fast-moving story here.
Breaking news: we just heard that the House failed to pass the Farm Bill. Read more here...

Network Partners

NETWORK GOAL:
By 2020, the region’s food and farming systems are more resilient
and provide at least 20% of our region’s food.

Network Partners: MSU Extension, Michigan Land Use Institute, Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy, Grand Traverse Conservation District, Michigan State University, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Traverse Bay Economic Development Corporation, ISLAND, Neahtawanta Center, North Central Michigan College, Northwestern Michigan CollegeNorthwest Michigan Council of Governments, Oryana Natural Foods Market, Cherry Capital Foods, Honey Boy Bob, USDA, Telamon Corporation, Black Star Farms, James Bardenhagen Farm, Maple Crest Farm, Head Start, Northwest Michigan Community Action Agency, Traverse Bay Poverty Reduction Initiative, Great Start Traverse Bay/Manistee Collaborative, Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce, Grand Traverse County Health Department, Benzie-Leelanau District Health Department, Munson Medical Center, Northern Michigan Diabetes Initiative and many individuals.