Like time, produce is money!

Michigan farmers who invested in hoop houses to lengthen the growing season have a new option for paying back their loans....distributing food!

Farmers Can Pay Back New Hoop House Loan by Distributing Food

July 27, 2011, EAST LANSING, MICH – Is it really possible to have fresh salad greens all year round? Can you really get Michigan grown tomatoes in June or July? The answer is yes! Many Michigan farmers are meeting the growing demand for locally grown, fresh fruits and vegetables by using season extension techniques such as hoop houses to help them lengthen their growing season.

A hoop house is a passive solar greenhouse that extends the production season for warm- and cool-season crops and permits winter harvesting of cold-tolerant vegetables. Hoop houses can also help a farmer increase their revenue. A recent study by Michigan State University found that, on average, an inexperienced hoop house grower selling at a farmers market can earn $1.60 per square foot per year. [1] <#_ftn1>

The Michigan Farmers Market Association (MIFMA), in partnership with the C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems at Michigan State University (MSU) and the MSU Student Organic Farm, is facilitating a program designed to help more farmers extend their growing season and strengthen the farmers markets where they sell their produce. The program is funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and will make hoop house loans available to farmers selling at farmers markets that participate in food assistance programs. The program plans to distribute $500,000 over a three year period to farmers seeking to install hoop houses, including approximately $175,000 in 2011.

Through this loan program, farmers will “pay off” their zero-interest loan by distributing fresh produce equal to the value of their loan principal to individuals using food assistance benefits at farmers markets. For example, if a loan amount of $5,000 is requested, a seasonal vendor who participates in a market for six months each year will need to distribute food valued at $41.67 each week to food assistance clients in order to pay back the loan principal within the five year loan period.

Farmers must meet certain requirements to qualify and must be a seasonal vendor at one of the four farmers markets participating in 2011: the Downtown Saginaw Farmers’ Market, the Downtown Ypsilanti Farmers’ Market, the Lapeer Farmers’ Market, and the Northwest Detroit Farmers’ Market.

In order to be considered for this loan program, farmers must complete an application and submit it with supporting documents by Friday, August 19, 2011 at 5:00 p.m. Applications will be reviewed and announcements will be made by September 15, 2011.

For more information contact Amanda Segar at 517-432-3381 or segarama@msu.edu.
 
[1] Waldman, K.B., Conner, D.S., Montri, A.D., Hamm, M.W. and J.A. Biernbaum (2010) Hoophouse Farming Startup: Economics, Efforts and Experiences from 12 Novice Hoophouse Farmers. MSU Extension Bulletin, 3138. Retrieved from http://www.hoophouse.msu.edu/assets/custom/files/Hoophouse%20Farming%20Startup.p

How we got here, dietwise

Much has been written about how poor the average American's diet is. Growing up in the 50's and 60's we ate at home. My mother cooked every day, baked, canned and froze all types of garden abundance and only at Christmas did we have soft drinks in the house. That made them a treat and signaled family parties and gifts. Now soft drinks are a daily staple, choices of all types of food abound and people's lives are too hectic and busy to cook, except perhaps on holidays. That's when all the stress comes out anyway, so if you aren't attuned to cooking, it makes holiday cooking even more difficult to manage. For at least a decade before he died in 2002, my father talked about how "fat" everyone was. He was very observant and wise.

How did a nation of farmers, attuned to the seasons and careful to preserve what was available for times when it wasn't, shift into the anytime, anywhere, cheap food noshing people that so many do?  Here's a timeline that tells the story.

The bees that are left need to fear thieves

According to an article in the New York Times, thieves are stealing all sorts of farm produce in California (and elsewhere no doubt!) including even the bees. This was the first I'd known about such things, although I guess it shouldn't surprise me. People steal what's valuable and as we transition to whatever is next in terms of our financial state as a country, food will become more and more valuable - and costly. I guess this is just a different manifestation of that...


See the entire article:

Farm Thieves Target Grapes, and Even Bees

By JESSE McKINLEY

Published: July 21, 2011

With strong harvests, and reduced crime-fighting budgets, thefts of farm products have risen in California’s rural areas.

Reclaiming the specialness of eating in season

Recently at a family reunion my cousin served a fabulous corn/zucchini casserole dish. It was the hit of the dinner and everyone asked for the recipe. Being a family of cooks and eaters, we all wanted to recreate it and enjoy it again. It would be particularly good in the dead of winter, and rather than buying imported corn and zucchinis, I decided that I would explore how to create this dish so that it could be canned and then re-heated. I knew I could freeze it, but I had my doubts about the texture after freezing and also wanted to see lovely jars of summer on my shelves.

We're just coming into corn and zucchini season so my timing was spot on. But I didn't know how to convert the recipe into one that could be canned - I didn't think it should be cooked as long because it would cook in the canning and then again when reheated. So I contacted Lori Evesque who was my instructor in a pressure canning class last fall. She's a food scientist as well and I was sure she'd know the answer.

She did. It's not something that can be canned successfully.

Lori explained why - the dairy wouldn't hold up, the amount of cooking would leave the veggies overdone and there wasn't enough liquid in the recipe to successfully can it. In short, it would be a disaster. That's when it occurred to me that I was guilty of trying to have my cake and eat it too.

As much as I try to each seasonally, its clear that I wanted to eat what I wanted when I wanted it. If I use local produce at its best, then I can only enjoy it fresh for a few months in the summer. Then I will need to wait until next year to enjoy it again in such dishes. How nice! Something to look forward to...something that truly is and remains special. It was good to be reminded of what I already knew but hadn't taken fully to heart. That if we can have anything we want any time we want it, then absolutely nothing is special any longer.

Here's to special dishes enjoyed at the top of the season and canning what can be done well to enjoy in those months between. Thanks Lori!

Three cheers for Michigan's farm to school advocates!

On the heels of the last post about silly laws preventing people from growing their own veggies, comes great news for farm-to-school advocates and children's health. The recent story of how only two states, Michigan and Florida, received special assistance is a credit to the hard work of many. The next step? Finding a way to continue to provide that supply between October and April. More hoop houses anyone?

USDA picks Michigan for food program - Laura Misjak, Lansing State Journal

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/201107120400/NEWS01/107120307

Michigan is one of two states chosen by the United States Department of Agriculture to participate in a pilot program that will make it easier for locally grown food to end up in school cafeterias.

Officials are expected to announce the program today, with Michigan and Florida schools able to purchase the locally grown food in 2012, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan said in a Monday interview with the State Journal.

"It's really about making bureaucracy work better by using existing entitlement dollars and increasing the flexibility of how those entitlement dollars can be used," Merrigan said.

School districts will be able to use the USDA funds they receive to purchase locally grown food.

The effort is expected to increase nutritional value in school lunches, boost the state's agricultural economy and give students the opportunity to see where their food comes from, Merrigan said.

The pilot program has great potential to positively impact Michigan's economy, said U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing.

"I think Michigan particularly will benefit because we grow just about everything we need here," she said. "Our schools are very eager to be able to purchase from their local community because they can get apples, cherries, blueberries, celery, and everything from local farmers."

Local growers will have to be on an authorized list of vendors through the USDA, Merrigan said, and details on how to get on that list will be released in coming weeks.

Michigan was chosen because of a high interest in farm-to-school programs, along with the wide variety of locally grown fruits and vegetables.

The state's agricultural diversity is second only to California's, officials said.

Diane Connors, a food and farming senior policy specialist with the Michigan Land Use Institute, said the program will provide more flexibility for food service directors to serve Michigan-grown foods.

"It's fantastic to get more flexibility with USDA funds for schools in Michigan to purchase produce from local farmer and to get healthy foods to kids in school," she said. "It's also good to build local food economies in Michigan where farming is such an important part of our economy."

Time to change the law...

I received the message below on one of the food lists I'm on. Seems silly. Once it may have made sense, but I'm not sure when that would have been...

COPY OF MESSAGE

I received this new article from one of our UC Irvine Community garden
members.  I am president of the community garden here in SoCal.

A woman in Oak Park has had a new sewer dug and replaced her lawn with
vegetables.  According to this news report, she is having to fight the
City Council and risks jail time.

Oak Parks City Planning and Technology Director is Kevin Rulkowski.

The city website is:
http://www.oakpark-mi.com/technical_planning/index.asp

I plan to call Mr. Rulkowski and weigh in to this situation.  If members
of the Michigan sustainable agriculture community will also voice their
opinions, I am sure that it will have more significant impact.

http://www.theagitator.com/2011/07/07/does-michelle-obama-know-about-this/


Thanks
Lu Forrest
--
Lu Forrest D.V.M.
285 Irvine Hall
Department of Physiology and Biophysics
University of California, Irvine
Irvine CA  92697-4561