Join MDE's Farm to Program Directory!

Are you interested in selling Michigan grown produce to schools, childcare centers, and community service agencies that serve meals to children? Complete the survey linked here to be listed in MDE’s Farm to Program Directory! https://msu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dh8ryyTcOyO9VGu

 

Ten Cents a Meal for Michigan’s Kids and Farms is a program that incentivizes local purchasing in Child Nutrition Programs by offering matching grants to pay for Michigan grown minimally processed fruit, vegetable, and dry bean purchases. Ten Cents a Meal grantees and other Child Nutrition Program customers will use MDE’s directory to identify food suppliers that can sell them Michigan grown produce for their programs. The directory is open to farmers, food hubs, and food aggregators, as well as any other food business that can provide the name and county of the farm(s) where their product was grown. We are currently collecting information from interested suppliers and are planning to launch the directory in Fall of 2024. We hope you will join us to help serve the freshest, most local food to kids in Michigan!

 

If you have any questions, please reach out to us at MDE-FarmToProgram@michigan.gov.

 

Sincerely,

Cheyenne Liberti

she/her

 

Farm to Program Consultant

Office of Nutrition Services

Michigan Department of Education

 

LibertiC@michigan.gov

(517) 284-0765

 

Get personalized voter information on early voting and other topics at Michigan.gov/Vote.

 

Join us for the Innovation Hub Regional Roundtables

Greetings,

I'm passing along info about our upcoming Regional Roundtables for the Lake Michigan School Food Systems Innovation Hub! We will be hosting two virtual roundtable discussions to help connect applicants regionally and discuss our visions for farm to school projects. Roundtables are open to anyone interested in the Innovation Hub awards, including school personnel, farmers or food suppliers, staff from community organizations, and more. 

We will start the event with a brief overview of the Innovation Hub grants and Q&A time from the audience. Afterwards, we will be dividing participants into interactive breakout groups based on their Michigan region of interest: Upper Peninsula, Northwest, West Central, Southwest, Northeast, East Central, Southeast, and Central.

We have two events currently scheduled and registration is now live:

February 22nd at 11:30 am – 12:45 pm EST 

March 5th at 3:00 pm - 4:15 pm EST 

We hope to see you there!

Best,

Megan

Megan McManus 

(she/her/hers)

Farm to Institution Specialist

MSU Center for Regional Food Systems

480 Wilson Road – Natural Resources Building

East Lansing, MI 48824

e: mcmanu60@msu.edu

w: https://www.canr.msu.edu/foodsystems/​

Growing Hope Seeks Seasonal Interns

Good morning,

Growing Hope seeks paid and unpaid interns for the 2024 growing and market season to support our Home Vegetable Garden Program, Urban Farm, and Farmers Market. These educational opportunities are a great way to learn and make an impact on our local food system. 

Please share these within your networks and with anyone who might be interested in learning more. 

Best,

Julius

--

Julius Buzzard

Executive Director

(Pronouns: he/him/his)

734.786.8401 Office

734.389.5045 Cell

Schedule a Meeting | Donate | Follow us on Facebook & Instagram 

Growing Hope fosters an equitable and sustainable local food system where all people are empowered to grow, sell, buy, prepare and eat nourishing food. 

MIFARMTOSCHOOL is a listserv that links farm-to-school stakeholders and practitioners in Michigan, from school food service directors and school administrators to growers and distributors. Content posted to MIFARMTOSCHOOL does not necessarily reflect the views of Michigan State University or the Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems.

Apply for Funds Through the Innovation Hub!

Register for these upcoming webinars to learn more

Applications are now open for the Lake Michigan School Food System Innovation Hub! MSU Center for Regional Food Systems is a part of the Lake Michigan School Food System Innovation Hub, which supports people working to improve meals in schools across Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana — especially in areas that don’t have equitable access to resources.  Our USDA-funded grant-making initiative offers funding, training and other assistance to partnerships that include farmers, food producers, suppliers, distributors, schools and organizations.   Grants are available from $10,000 to $100,000 per year. Applications are open until April 30, 2024.  Do you know a way to bring local, nutritious and culturally relevant food to more schools across our region? Learn more at InnovateSchoolFood.org.  Upcoming Events Tomorrow! Lake Michigan School Food System Launch Webinar: Understanding Our Grants and How We Can Help The upcoming launch webinar is on Wednesday, February 14 at 2:00 p.m. EST (English) and 3:00 p.m. EST (Spanish). This webinar will include an overview of the Innovation Hub's request for applications, including who’s eligible, and how applications will be scored. We will also review all the support we have available to help you apply. Lastly, a brief overview on how to inclusively engage and support priority communities will be covered. English Webinar Registration  Spanish Webinar Registration  New! Collaboration Across Michigan for the Innovation Hub: Regional Roundtables  The MSU Center for Regional Food Systems will be hosting two virtual roundtable discussions to help connect Innovation Hub applicants in their regions to share and discuss their visions and project ideas with one other. Roundtables are open to anyone interested in the Innovation Hub awards, including school personnel, farmers or food suppliers, staff from community organizations, and more. We will be dividing participants into interactive breakout groups based on their Michigan region of interest: Upper Peninsula, Northwest, West Central, Southwest, Northeast, East Central, Southeast, and Central. Events will be held on:  February 22nd at 11:30 am – 12:45 pm EST  Register here March 5th at 3:00 pm - 4:15 pm EST  Register here About Michigan Farm to School Farm to School centers around efforts to serve local foods in school and early care and education settings. We share ideas, tools and resources to support a range of efforts, from school garden programming to farmer visits and field trips. Visit mifarmtoschool.msu.edu >> FOODSYSTEMS.MSU.EDU ‌ ‌ ‌ You are receiving this email because you are subscribed to the MIFARMTOSCHOOL listserv. Please note that if you unsubscribe from this mailing, you will be removed from the listserv.

MSU Center for Regional Food Systems | 480 Wilson Road, East Lansing, MI 48824 Unsubscribe matts11.pikabo@blogger.com Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice Sent by msucrfs@msucrfs.ccsend.com powered by Try email marketing for free today!

Application deadline extended! Two positions open to support the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center

Apply by Sunday, February 11, 2024

The application deadline for two positions that will support the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center has been extended to 11:55pm EST on Sunday, February 11, 2024. The Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems (CRFS) is the lead organization for the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center, with network coordinators in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin (more information about the Center can be found below). To support the goals of this Center, CRFS is hiring new positions in early 2024. These positions will add needed person-power and skills to build its capacity to connect available resources to food and farm business entrepreneurs. The deadline has been extended for the following dynamic positions:   Business Builder Grant Program Manager  The Business Builder Grant Program Manager will work with regional network coordinators to develop and manage an equitable regranting program for food and farm business entrepreneurs, manage business portfolios in Salesforce, and supervise the Grants Assistance Specialist. Apply here Grants Assistance Specialist   The Grants Assistance Specialist will provide grant writing support, training, and other capacity building opportunities for food and farm business entrepreneurs and other stakeholders across the region (IL, IN, MI, and WI). Apply here These positions are designated remote-friendly, with some travel required. Application materials must be submitted through the careers.msu.edu website. Deadline to apply is 11:55pm ET on Sunday, February 11, 2024.  If you have questions about the positions or search process, you may contact Colleen Matts at matts@msu.edu. About the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center   The Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center is dedicated to offering coordination, technical assistance, and capacity building opportunities for small- to mid-sized historically marginalized food and farm business entrepreneurs in support of a more resilient, diverse, and competitive food system. Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems (MI) coordinates the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center that is comprised of network coordinators – Chicago Food Policy Action Council (IL), Northwest Indiana Food Council (IN), Food Finance Institute of the University of Wisconsin System (WI), and the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin Department of Agriculture and Food Systems – who seek to take a transformational, rather than transactional, approach. Learn more at glm-rfbc.msu.edu ### Support for the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center comes from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service Regional Food Business Centers Program. The 12 USDA Regional Food Business Centers support all 50 U.S. States and Territories, and are inclusive of all types of agricultural products produced locally or regionally. USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender. Read the USDA Non-Discrimination Statement here. ### The Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems (CRFS) unites the knowledge of diverse food systems stakeholders with that of MSU faculty and staff to advance regionally-rooted food systems through applied research, education, and outreach. Our work fosters a thriving economy, equity, and sustainability for Michigan, the nation, and the planet by increasing understanding of and engagement with systems that produce food that is healthy, green, fair, and affordable. Learn more at foodsystems.msu.edu  EXPLORE foodsystems.msu.edu EMAIL CRFS@msu.edu CALL 517-353-3535 FOLLOW @MSUCRFS ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ FOODSYSTEMS.MSU.EDU

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