| East Lansing, MI – On September 24, 2024, the Michigan State University (MSU) Center for Regional Food Systems, MSU Product Center, and partners will host a day-long solutions workshop to address food distribution in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This no-cost event held at Barrel + Beam in Marquette will feature keynote speakers from across the country and include facilitated roundtables for action-oriented conversations.
“Food distribution is a challenge across rural America,” Parker Jones, Innovation Counselor at the MSU Product Center, said. “The more miles to a town, the lower the access is to healthy food. Distribution costs are at the core of food access.”
After 15 years of service, Cherry Capital Foods, a leading local food distribution partner in Michigan, closed operations in spring 2024. This left a void for the small- to mid-sized food businesses in vending their products. While the Upper Peninsula contains 29% of the land area of Michigan, only 3% of Michigan's residents live in the region. With this vast stretch of space, an effective food distribution system is necessary to maintain and increase healthy food access, as well as contribute to local farm and food business vitality. This event aims to connect stakeholders over the unique needs of the region and to provide the opportunity to devise community-powered solutions that will benefit farmers, sellers, and consumers.
To provide examples of successful operations from across the U.S., Teresa Wiemerslage, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach and advisor to the Iowa Food Hub, and Stefani Jaeger, Director of Sales and Customer Success, Local Food Marketplace, will highlight rural food distribution models, methods and successes. Following these keynote presentations, attendees will be able to break out into topic-based conversations on needed infrastructure, key barriers, and more.
“Food distribution affects our food system and what we have access to for nourishment in communities,” Alex Palzewicz, Kitchen Manager and Chef of Northwoods Test Kitchen of Marquette, said. “This event hopes to gather the many sectors that are connected to local food and its distribution in order to identify together what the best next steps and plan of action is, both locally and on a more regional scale. We hope to help identify key players or champions, and use the action steps so that these ideas and connections continue on after the event.”
This event is open to all interested in attending, though space is limited. Lunch will be provided and a limited number of travel scholarships are available. | 
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