| As many of you know, it has been a challenging time at CRFS. We have welcomed talented, new members to the CRFS team, but also have had to say some painful “good byes” to valued colleagues.
In particular, the loss of the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center has hit us hard. We heard loudly and clearly that the millions of dollars in technical assistance and business builder subawards this program would have distributed in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin were dearly needed; and we hear the disappointment now from our communities just as loudly.
Yet we refuse to “adapt” to the current climate of injustice. CRFS’s commitment to transforming oppressive structures into systems that support Good Food remains our guiding light.
In Michigan, we continue to collaborate with our communities to realize the vision of the Michigan Good Food Charter—a thriving food system that is accessible, equitable, fair, healthy, and diverse. We support Michigan’s local food councils to increase their capacity to give voice to the energy, ingenuity, and the needs that exist in their communities. Our work to support Michigan schools and other institutions to source good food from local farms continues, and is finding new ways to connect to our work with Michigan food hubs.
On the regional and national levels, our team is collaborating with stakeholders around the country to build out the Statewide and Regional Food System Plans National Community of Practice. And we are nurturing the relationships we built from the now-terminated Regional Food Business Center program to find new possibilities for collaboration, from supporting traditional Indigenous foodways to opportunities to provide technical and/or financial assistance for regenerative agriculture in the region. Stay tuned for more on these efforts under our collaborative’s new name: the Great Lakes Partnership for Food & Farm Development.
There is no doubt about it: we are in difficult times. But the core strength of what CRFS does comes from the communities we work with and support—to paraphrase the concept of ubuntu, we are because you are. We will not adapt to injustice; together, we will challenge injustice and create change to realize just food systems.
Over 90% of CRFS's budget comes from private foundations, federal sources, and state institutions. To that end, we’re grateful for the support of all of our funders, which includes individuals like you. With these resources, CRFS endeavors to build trust, connection, and accountability to communities. So please consider supporting our work directly, not only with your voice, but with a contribution. We extend our immense thanks to CRFS founder and director emeritus, Prof. Mike Hamm, and his wife Lisa, for their generous gift that supports our continued work. Please consider adding your support to theirs—every contribution counts, and enables us to deepen our commitments to the growth and thriving of resilient, self-determined communities, rooted in justice, solidarity, and the right to a dignified life, in Michigan, the nation, and the world. | 
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