MSU Center for Regional Food Systems

Do you have upcoming funding opportunities and need to tell your story? This resource sheet will help farmers, Indigenous producers, and food business owners to develop a concise and impactful narrative for grant applications. Developed for the Telling a Compelling Story webinar from the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center, it includes six steps to drafting a funding narrative, key takeaways from the webinar, and resources to assist with the application. Find the resource sheet here: https://loom.ly/6nUkCQs The webinar took place on October 24, 2024 as part of the What you Need to Know Webinar series, featuring webinar speakers, Jane Cajuste, Chicago Food Policy Action Council and Madelina DiLisi, Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems. They joined Julie Jesmer and Jamie Rahrig of the MSU Center for Regional Food Systems and the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center who shared more about the upcoming Business Builder grant opportunities. Find the full webinar here: https://loom.ly/t-AFaRA #LocalFood #Entrepreneurship #StoryTelling #GreatLakes #SmallBusinessSupport

Have you ever considered grant funding to help enhance your valued-added agriculture business? The USDA Rural Development Value- Added Producer Grant is open to Independent Producers, Agricultural Producer Groups, Farmer Cooperatives and Majority-Controlled Producer Based Businesses. Funds may be used for activities related to the processing and/or marketing of bio-based, value-added products that create and expand market opportunities, create new products and increase producer income. Join USDA Rural Development along with Michigan State University Extension and the MSU Product Center for a webinar outlining the grant's eligibility requirements, priority areas, matching fund requirements and other need-to-know information such as the new application process for fiscal year 2025. The live virtual webinar will take place on January 21, 2025, from 6-8 p.m. After the event, all registrants will receive a link to the recording and other helpful information. The workshops are free, but registration is required. Sign up at: https://lnkd.in/eNwSpc9h. #LocalFood #FarmBusiness #MichiganGrown #MichiganFarm #SmallBusinessSupport

The Michigan Local Food Council Network convenes and engages with food councils through peer-to-peer learning to build individual and collective capacity, address food and food policy issues, and engage communities. Join the MLFCN's meeting on January 16th at 10am featuring topics and speakers relevant to the work of councils across the state! Through legislative updates and space to forge connections among councils, monthly MLFCN meetings work towards improved food outcomes for communities across Michigan. Join the January meeting here: https://loom.ly/vChqi50 #Michigan #FoodSystem #MIFarming #MichiganFood #MLFCN #FoodPolicy

Join us for a Cultivate Michigan Farm to School Marketplace event at the Local Foods in School Meals meeting in Lawrence, MI on January 14th, 2025 from 4pm-5pm. This event is an opportunity for meeting attendees to interact with local farms and food suppliers and connect to sources for more local produce, including farmers, distributors, and food hubs. This is a unique event for schools, including current and future 10 Cents a Meal grantees, to develop relationships with local farmers who can provide the local products you need! Register to attend here: https://loom.ly/cbuOaKQ #FarmtoECE #LocalFood #MichiganGrown #FoodSystems #FarmToSchool

Apply now! The USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) is offering funding for specialty crop producers now through January 10th. If you are registered with the FSA and grow fruit, vegetables, herbs, or other specialty crops, consider applying! Learn more at this link: https://lnkd.in/gyCZUVMw #LocalFood #FarmBusiness #FoodSystems #MichiganGrown #SmallBusiness

Did you know that childcare centers and family day care home providers are eligible to participate in 10 Cents A Meal? Check out the impact of this Michigan Department of Education-administered program for Michigan’s littlest eaters in this brief: https://loom.ly/Ua5_zH4   Now in their second year of 10 Cents a Meal eligibility, childcare centers and family day care home providers were able to receive matching funding to purchase and serve Michigan-grown fruits, vegetables, and dry beans. In the 2022-2023 program, 59 centers & homes opted to participate and reached an estimated 1120+ children, 60% of all 10 Cents a Meal purchases were direct from Michigan farms. Fun Fact: Tomatoes, corn, summer squash, peaches, and cherries were the top products purchased. 43% of grantee dollars went towards vegetables, which were nearly tied with Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) boxes at 42%. Surprisingly, only 15% of purchasing dollars went to fruit. The pilot found that CSA boxes are a convenient way for day care and child centers to get a variety of produce regularly from local farmers, without having to meet large order minimums. Looking ahead, this pilot program has tremendous ability to impact the state by greatly expanding the number of young children reached by 10 Cents a Meal. Follow MSU Center for Regional Food Systems to track this growing program’s progress and the many results to come! Photo Credit: Sarah Rypma Photography LLC #FarmtoECE #FarmToSchool #LocalFood #Michigan #MichiganGrown

Tuesday, January 7th is the deadline to apply for the Farm to Youth Network Coordinator position at MSU's Center for Regional Food Systems! This position will collaborate with statewide stakeholders to grow partnerships in farm to early care and education, farm to school, and farm to institution spaces. They will work to create knowledge products, resources, and other creative forms of scholarship, and actively engage in outreach, including the provision of technical assistance. Apply here: https://loom.ly/UdwUiYs #FarmtoECE #LocalFood #FoodSystems #MichiganGrown #FarmToSchool

Jen Falck and Dan Cornelius of the Oneida Nation facilitated the Tribal Producer Information Session webinar on December 5, 2024 with Stephanie Dodge, the Intertribal Food Coordinator of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin. The virtual meeting offered a space for Tribal food producers from across the Great Lakes Midwest to gather and learn together. Jen is the owner of Kahulahele Farmstead and the Partnership Program Coordinator of the Menominee Tribe’s Department of Agriculture and Food Systems. Dan is the owner of Yowela Farms, a grower of heritage Indigenous crops, and the Outreach Program Manager for the Great Lakes Indigenous Law Center at the University of Wisconsin Law School and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. They were joined by Jamie Rahrig and Julie Jesmer of the MSU Center for Regional Food Systems and Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center who shared more about the upcoming USDA Business Builder grant program. The first phase of the Business Builder grant program will soon open for food and/or farm businesses in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin. Over $10 million dollars will be distributed across the region to assistance providers and through the grant program over the next four years. Additional sessions for Tribal producers will be held throughout 2025. Stay tuned for more information. Find the recording of the December webinar here: https://loom.ly/5xnIjtw #LocalFood #FarmBusiness #FoodBusiness #GreatLakes #SmallBusinessSupport #IndigenousFood

Food SPICE (Food Systems Partners Investing in Communities and Entrepreneurs) brought together food systems stakeholders to strengthen the viability, resilience, and equity of Michigan regional food economies. Food SPICE provided technical assistance support and opportunities to help food and farm business to start, grow, and succeed! Check out our first post to read about where we started. Along the way in Food SPICE, we offered food and farm business owners opportunities for sector specific business support including marketing services, accounting services, consulting for kitchen incubator consumer packaged goods makers, plus product testing and food safety education. Food SPICE increased the readiness of food entrepreneurs for commercial production, lending, and business growth. “It’s been a lot of hard work, but it’s starting to pay off.... You and your staff have been absolutely amazing. We just getting started 💪😁! Our best is yet to come!” - Food SPICE entrepreneur Food SPICE partners learned together about outreach and facilitation with a racial equity lens, food finance, LEAN process, food safety and regulations, and funding food systems initiatives. The program also provided resources and tools to strengthen the Michigan Incubator Kitchen Network, where shared use kitchen owners and managers come together for peer-to-peer learning, business development, and technical support. Stay tuned to learn more about the Food SPICE program outcomes or explore here: https://lnkd.in/euhhYDpK Program Partners: City of Battle Creek, Michigan Small Business, Morning Light Business Idea Incubator, JPG Resources - Food & Beverage Innovation, Can-Do Kalamazoo, SCORE Mentors Kalamazoo / SW Michigan, Michigan Good Food Fund Lending Pipeline, Kalamazoo Valley Community College ValleyHUB Food Innovation Center, U.P. Food Exchange. #Michigan #LocalFood #Entrepreneurship #MichiganFarm #MichiganFood #SupportSmallBusiness

The 10 Cents a Meal program tells a compelling story: it is estimated that over 580,000 children in Michigan benefited from the program in the 2022-2023 school year! Explore the evaluation findings of the program through this interactive ArcGIS StoryMap: https://loom.ly/PCVjPwU #FarmToSchool #LocalFood #Michigan #MichiganGrown #MichiganFarm Michigan Department of Education Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities