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Michigan has always been a second home to me, where most of my family was born, and so I’m proud to learn that the state is undergoing a food revolution that is perhaps quieter than the sustainable stirrings of New York and the Bay Area, but is no less important.

In fact, as Laura Shapiro points out in Gourmet (bastion of highbrow foodie culture), the concerted efforts underway in Michigan to reconnect farmers to the public may be critical to pushing past the stereotype of sustainable food system as elitist fantasy, and prove that it could in fact the best way to feed our country.  Shapiro explains:

there’s a lot to learn in Michigan about the way organizing and politicking and activism on food issues can successfully stir up a region that’s never been famous for setting culinary fashion. The food revolution had a splendid Bay Area birth—in fact, the parties are still going on—but it is growing up in places like this.

Offering the second-greatest variety of agricultural products, after California, Michiganders have always taken great pride in locally grown specialties: Traverse City as the Cherry Capital, Frankfort-Elberta for crisp apples, and Oceana County for asparagus.  And while giant food processors have taken a toll on local farmers by seeking cheaper produce (and labor) abroad, organizations such as Taste the Local Difference, are helping to reinvigorate the farmer-consumer connection.  And the local fare is not just featured at farmer’s markets, but is increasingly making it’s way to grocery stores, restaurants and school lunches, helping to gain greater traction for a sustainable food system that is accessible to everyone.  My personal bias aside, Michigan is a wonderful example of how communities all across the country can reconnect with local food systems that once fed us all, and together we can revitalize local economies and the health of the nation.