The information below is from an email I received from Patty Cantrell at Michigan's RegionalFoodSolutions.com organization. Hopefully it's a step in the right direction for Michigan and its residents....
Governor Draws Health, Wellness Lessons from MI Good Food Charter
In an address last Thursday, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder shared his ideas for improving health and wellness in the state. In developing a number of his recommendations, he drew on the Michigan Good Food Charter, a policy platform for leveraging the power of Michigan food and farming to improve public health, grow jobs, build social equity, and protect the environment.
Highlights from Gov. Snyder’s plan include:
- Working with schools to increase physical activity and health education and to adopt healthier nutrition standards.
- Improving access to healthy, local foods in partnership with food manufacturers and food retailers.
- Strengthening the farm-to-school network in Michigan.
The governor did not drill down, in many cases, to specific needs spelled out in the Charter, such as building farms' capacity to supply more local foods to schools. Yet the top-level direction he provided was clear: Make the healthy food connection with Michigan agriculture, and make it work for the state’s economy and communities.
Keith Creagh, director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture, told Lansing’s Channel 6 news it’s all about access to healthy foods.
“One of the programs that we'll spend more time, energy and effort on is something called Local Food Hubs, and that's marrying businesses and consumers and farmers to make sure you have that integration of systems to supply food locally," said Creagh.
Full text of Governor Snyder’s address on Michigan health and wellness is available here: http://www.michigan.gov/
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