Category: Community
Black Star Farms Harvest Dinner Series
Harvest often concludes with a social celebration of the season. It’s a time to remember the energy and hard work that has been poured into the fields, while recognizing that success is based on the whim of Mother Nature. Growers gratefully honor the harvest of the season by sharing their food with others. Growers, like the Inn at Black Star Farms.
Their Harvest Dinner essentially began eight years ago with the introduction of the annual “Morels in May” event. Over the last few years, farmers in our region have continued to make strides in extending their season and providing us with local harvests year-round. In an effort to educate the public and raise awareness of our northern Michigan agricultural community, the Black Star Farms Harvest Dinner became a monthly series in March 2013. Each Harvest Dinner focuses on one or two items that are truly distinctive to that particular month. Those items are highlighted along with the chef’s creativity in each course that’s prepared.
A “Fresh” Perspective
There are countless documentaries making comments on the current state of our food system. They each differ in varying degrees of tragedy, omission, honesty and optimism. “Fresh” became part of that ever growing panoply of films in 2009. The film’s director, Ana Sofia Joanes, sets “Fresh” apart by providing a well-balanced account of the dismal realities in industrial agriculture while layering the narrative with promising, inspiring and practical solutions that are beginning a movement.
Left Foot Charley’s Swiss Family Dinner
Left Foot Charley, located at The Village at Grand Traverse Commons, is one of Michigan’s first urban wineries. What makes LFC unique is that they have a collective of 18 growers throughout Northern Michigan. The grapes are transported from the various small-scale vineyards to the winery, where they are transformed into award-winning wines. Just 1 mile from Downtown Traverse City, Left Foot Charley is bustling with activity and bursting at the seems with grapes during the harvest season.
Higher Grounds: Traverse City, MI
Higher Grounds Trading Co. was envisioned through passion for both social justice and the environment. To this day the company and its owner Chris Treter continue to make strides in supporting & fundraising these very fundamental causes both locally and throughout the world. Chris is originally from Toledo, Ohio and ventured to Vermont to attend graduate school for Organizational Management of Social Change. After graduation in 2001, he travelled to Mexico with a human rights organization where he met coffee farmers struggling for basic human rights. These coffee farmers were also producing high-quality coffee but had no connection to the international market. Chris saw an opportunity to import great coffee using fair-trade practices and help the coffee farmers to earn what they deserved.
Thanksgiving Dreams
Today I’m driving six hours away from Traverse City to the suburbs of Chicago (where I grew up) for a long weekend with my family. A celebration for the upcoming holiday and a chance to spend some extra quality time with people dear to me. Thanksgiving is so enjoyable for me in large part due to all the family I get to reconnect with, but lets be honest its definitely got something to do with the food as well. My family has requested a repeat of the delicious squash & feta savory muffins I made last year, but I’ll be spending my long drive finalizing plans for another side dish, just in time for the big feast.
Duerksen Turkey Farm: Mancelona, MI
I’m having a great time working as an intern for Taste the Local Difference. Over the past few month I’ve been able to dive even further into Northwest Michigan’s local food scene and learn more about the great farmers, retailers and producers we have throughout this region.
I’ve known Sue Duerksen and her husband Rick for about three years now though the various local farmers markets I help to manage. In a recent newsletter and posting on the Taste the Local Difference Blog I was able to interview the Duerksen’s to understand more about their farm and why Duerksen’s turkeys are so highly sought after throughout the region. You’ll find the original article below. Enjoy!
NMC’s Culinary Classes
I love learning, and whats better than learning in the kitchen? Northern Michigan College holds a variety of Extended Education courses “in the kitchen” throughout the year. NMC’s culinary classes have been rated the region’s Red Hot BEST Award for several years in a row. I attended NMC’s Festival of Foods last year as an introduction to the types of classes and instruction I might receive by signing up for one of NMC’s Culinary Classes. I was so impressed that I signed up and attended two cooking classes in the last few months since my introduction!