Food :
People
Anya Zentmeyer
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
At Sprout Urban Farms in Battle Creek, kids grow produce for a mobile food hub, which transports fresh food to neighborhoods that are lacking.
Jeff Barr
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
In Manistee, students go from classroom to grocery store and then into the kitchen to cook a meal they've purchased for very little money.
Anya Zentmeyer
Wednesday, June 04, 2014
Good Food Battle Creek wants to improve access to healthy food by bringing residents, growers, nonprofits, and other concerned folks together to address challenges in the local food system.
Melinda Clynes
Monday, December 02, 2013
Winona Bynum, youth and nutrition programs manager at Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan, likens her work in the nonprofit sector to her past work in IT project management. Similar to technology projects, human service programs – like the children’s feeding programs she oversees – need stakeholder input and strong collaborations to be successful.
Melinda Clynes
Monday, December 02, 2013
Community organizer, farmer, teacher and change maker are among the hats worn by Kwamena Mensah, agriculture specialist and consultant with Detroit Black Community Food Security Network. As a pioneer in the urban agriculture movement, he has played a huge role in the reform of Detroit’s food system.
Kelle Barr
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Colleen Matts, farm to institution specialist at the MSU Center for Regional Food Systems, has seen kids become great farm to school ambassadors, taking their parents by the hand, sharing their knowhow about the value of locally grown food, and even telling parents where to purchase it. Matts sees kids leading the farm to school cause -- just as much as she is.
Melinda Clynes
Sunday, November 10, 2013
With collaboration and positive social change in the driver’s seat, Leah Kelley of Allen Neighborhood Center in Lansing is motivating youth to think more about their role in creating positive shifts in community health. She leads the center’s Youth Service Corps, which engages community youth in food access projects through hands-on work and learning activities.
Melinda Clynes
Sunday, November 10, 2013
When Jennifer Rusciano was in fourth grade, she explored the origins of her favorite chocolate bar, connecting it to cocoa farms in Ghana. Years later, a college fellowship led her to live and work in small-scale cocoa farming communities around the world, exploring the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit. After that, she joined FoodCorps in Michigan for two years, and eventually helped develop Detroit Food Academy, where she currently serves as executive director of operations.
Melinda Clynes
Saturday, September 14, 2013
As executive director of the Baldwin Center in Pontiac, Lisa Machesky sees daily the growing divide between rich and poor. She envisions a future where every child has an equal chance for success, and Baldwin Center’s enrichment and education programs for kids and basic needs assistance for families mean Pontiac children have a better footing for the future.
Kelle Barr
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Since childhood, Bridget Clark Whitney, executive director of Kids’ Food Basket in Grand Rapids, has known that serving underprivileged people was her calling. She has devoted her entire career to ending childhood hunger, helping to make sure that thousands of children in greater Grand Rapids and Muskegon do not go to bed hungry.
Melinda Clynes
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Each month, Chet Decker, executive director of Hope Center in Macomb, is responsible for feeding around 1,700 children through the client choice food pantry that he runs. Cuts to government emergency food funding, coupled with increased food costs, have Decker worried about funding at a time when there are more mouths to feed in Macomb County.
Kelle Barr
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Michael W. Hamm, director of the MSU Center for Regional Food System, and his staff are devoted to the good health and development of all Michigan youth. The center’s creative programs and initiatives, like Michigan Good Food and Hoophouses for Health, are helping to ensure that more children have balanced, produce-rich diets.
Kelle Barr
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
A full stomach should not be a luxury. And sharp pains of hunger should never be the norm. Dr. Dorceta Taylor, a professor at University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment, recently embarked on a five-year, federally funded research study on food insecurity in Michigan. She is identifying the state’s most underserved and beginning to connect them with the resources they need to have the simple dignity of regular, nutritious meals.
Kelle Barr
Tuesday, December 04, 2012
Over three decades, Bob Randels has watched food banking in Michigan grow from a grass-roots initiative to a cross-state system of well-run, food distribution hubs. The Food Bank of South Central Michigan’s executive director derives satisfaction from his work and continues to develop new ways to supply nutrition to the hungry.
Melinda Clynes
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Cheryl Simon gained her wisdom and knowledge from years in Detroit’s nonprofit sector before taking on the coordinating role with Detroit Food Policy Council, a group shaping food policy and championing a more just and environmentally conscious local food system. She invites those most impacted by food policy to the table to partake in both the discussion and the decisions.