Michigan's Roots in Food and Community

DETROIT, May 20, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 600 school food workers, farmers, advocates, public officials, food entrepreneurs, academics and others from around the nation are gathering this week in Detroit for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Food & Community "Harvesting Change" Gathering.  The event takes place Tues., May 20 through Thurs., May 22, 2014.

Through workshops and city site visits, participants are exploring ways to create a more equitable and sustainable food system, and grow the Good Food Movement, which seeks to increase access to food that is affordable, healthy, green and fair for all children, families and communities.

In Detroit and Michigan, in particular, a number of people and organizations are leading the way in developing model programs that can be replicated across the nation. Conference goers are seeing firsthand Detroit's successful urban farms, community gardens, school food system and food hubs.

Slate Info:
Agency: Pyramid Communications
Contact: Kathy Reincke
[email protected]
269.274.5445

Client: W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Food & Community 2014
Content:
Overview: Michigan's Roots in Food and Community
Inserts:
Grand Rapids: Veggie Van – TRT:30
Flint – Hoop Houses for Health – TRT:45

Slate:
Overview: Michigan's Roots in Food and Community
Interviews:
Meredith Freeman, director of Fair Food Detroit, Fair Food Network
Oran Hesterman, CEO, Fair Food Network
Michael Hamm, C.S. Mott Professor of Sustainable Agriculture, Michigan State University

Suggested anchor lead-in:
The Good Food Movement toward a more equitable and sustainable food system is growing across the country and here in Michigan it has taken root like in no other state. We have this report.

Fade up on gardens, farmers market b-roll

Narrator:
Demand for local, fresh and sustainable food is a movement whose time has come to Michigan.

Meredith Freeman:
I think the good food movement has really taken off in Detroit and in other cities around the state because Michigan is an agricultural state. And, so, it's a natural fit for, um, the community food movement to take root and to really grow in the state of Michigan.

Oran Hesterman:
So in Michigan, we have had all of this great innovation and diversity of approaches. But we also have a way in Michigan of bringing all this together... We have something in Michigan called the Michigan Good Food Charter where dozens of organizations have signed on with a identical goal in mind. And that is, by 2020, having 20 percent of all of the food eaten in the state grown in the state.

Narrator:
Another recognition of Michigan's importance in the good food movement: more than 600 good food advocates, farmers, community leaders, and policymakers have gathered in Detroit for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Food & Community national conference. The theme is Harvesting Change and attendees will be discussing the many innovative programs that grew up in Michigan.

Michael Hamm:
So, you've got things like Double Up Bucks. You've got things like the Hoop Houses for Health program. You've got things like the Farm to School program across the state of Michigan. You've got the, the Farm to Healthcare program across the state. All of these are things where people are talking to each other, forming conscious networks that they can support each other's work, and all of these things are looking at ways in which these are scalable, and replicable, and sustainable over the long term. That is fairly unique in Michigan to have all of these things converging in one place, in one state, at one point in time. And we should be very proud of that.

Slate:
Insert: Grand Rapids – Veggie Van
Interview: Julie Sielawa, executive director of Community Outreach, YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids.

Suggested anchor lead-in:
More than 600 good food advocates are gathering in Detroit as part of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Food & Community gathering. One of the innovative programs attendees will learn about is right here in Grand Rapids. We have this report.

Fade up to produce being put out on table, pan fresh fruits and veggies, shot of veggie van
Julie Sielawa
The Veggie Van was designed as an access buffer between communities, especially vulnerable communities, around families that aren't getting access to healthy foods and fruits and vegetables. So the Veggie Van goes into about 22 vulnerable communities and provides food where families need it.

When we go to schools, we often sell, um, at a quarter a piece. And the schools give the kids the money to come down and purchase apples or simple product. And I, as a way of incentivizing them away from sort of the chips and the other unhealthier items. So schools are incentivizing toward good health.

Slate:
Insert: Flint – Hoop Houses for Health
Interviews: Erin Caudell, owner, Flint Ingredient Company
Adam Montri, hoop house outreach specialist, Michigan State University.

Suggested Anchor lead:
The local sustainable good food movement has taken root across Michigan and an innovative program is helping bring fresh local produce to residents of Flint. We have this report.

Fade up on pan to Erin
Erin Caudell
Here we are at the Flint Ingredient Company. This is a ten-acre farm with two hoop house structures, as well as yield crops and chickens and sheep.

Adam Montri
In Michigan, farmers are trying to make all of their money in a very, shortened season. So the hoop houses are allowing farmers to, both extend that season, have more income coming in. And then also to have more fresh fruits and vegetables available more of the year.

Narrator:
Hoop Houses for Health is one of many programs that will be the focus of good food advocates, farmers, community leaders and policymakers at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Food & Community Gathering called Harvesting Change.

Erin Caudell:
My motivation is that I want everyone in Flint to be able to have fresh, healthy, affordable, quality food and so, if I can be a part of that and make a living at it, then, um, I will have succeeded.

Slate:
Insert: Detroit – Growing the Urban Agriculture Movement
Interviews: Ashley Atkinson, co-director, Keep Growing Detroit
Jerry Hebron, executive director, Northend Christian Community Development Corporation
William Hebron, garden manager, Northend Christian Community Development Corporation
Betti Wiggins, executive director, Detroit Pubic Schools Office of School Nutrition

Suggested Anchor lead:
The local sustainable good food movement has taken root across Michigan and here in Detroit the urban agriculture movement continues to flourish. We have this report.

Fade up on garden b-roll
Ashley:
There are about fourteen hundred gardens networked within the City of Detroit.

Jerry Hebron:
There's a bigger picture than just a community garden.

Billy Hebron:
I want to see jobs come of this.

Betti Wiggins:
I'm proud of the fact that we've changed the lunch tray in the Detroit public schools where it exceeds the USDA standards.

Narrator:
Local, fresh, sustainable and affordable food will be the focus as more than 600 good food advocates, farmers, community leaders and policymakers have gathered in Detroit for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Food & Community national gathering. The theme is Harvesting Change and attendees will be discussing many innovative programs that grew up in Detroit and across Michigan.

Jerry Hebron:
The whole dynamics of this area can change. From a seed, from a seed.

About the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), founded in 1930 as an independent, private foundation by breakfast cereal pioneer, Will Keith Kellogg, is among the largest philanthropic foundations in the United States. Guided by the belief that all children should have an equal opportunity to thrive, WKKF works with communities to create the conditions where vulnerable children can realize their full potential in school, work and life.

The Kellogg Foundation is based in Battle Creek, Mich., and works throughout the United States and internationally, as well as with sovereign tribes. Special emphasis is paid to priority places where there are high concentrations of poverty and where children face significant barriers to success. WKKF priority places in the U.S. are in Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans; and internationally, are in Mexico and Haiti.

Learn more about the foundation at www.wkkf.org or follow WKKF on Twitter at @wk_kellogg_fdn.

Video - http://origin-qps.onstreammedia.com/origin/multivu_archive/PRNA/ENR/89184-WK-Kellogg-Foundation-Michigan-Harvesting-Change.mp4

SOURCE W.K. Kellogg Foundation