NW Michigan Food and Farming Network Report to the Community 2015 Report to the Community | Page 32

Food and Farming network

Farm-to-Seniors
Pilot Project in Emmet County
Emmet County group
sources local greens
By Scott Smith
Local Food Alliance of
Northern Michigan
The Friendship Centers of Emmet
County (FCEC) initiated a Farm-toSenior project in 2014 to incorporate locally grown, fresh, and nutritious food in its meal programs and
to expand markets for local farmers.
In 2011, the Petoskey-Harbor
Springs Area Community Foundation (PHSACF) launched a Good
Food Initiative. Among its objectives are to encourage institutions to give priority to local food
sources and to support opportunities for those in need to eat fresh,
local foods. The Local Food Alliance
of Northern Michigan also identified
farm-to-institution programs as a
high priority.

In 2013, FCEC expressed a strong
interest in including locally-sourced
foods in its meal programs. FCEC
provides a variety of programs to
individuals 60 years or older who
reside in Emmet County and serves
450 meals a day. FCEC has a contract through which it procures 90
percent of its food supplies, but has
flexibility in what and from where it
purchases the remaining 10 percent.
A grant from PHSACF allowed
FCEC to hire a consultant to determine whether a farm-to-seniors program was feasible and, if so, to help
develop and initiate a program. Beginning in early 2014, the consultant
worked with FCEC staff to identify
what locally sourced food items
could be included in their meals, and
what it would take to make that happen. A detailed Request for Information was published and distributed
through various organizations and

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contacts to elicit offers from local
farmers for any of these items.
Coveyou Scenic Farm responded,
and FCEC selected two items—salad
greens and cucumbers—to initiate
the project. Salad greens proved challenging, since FCEC’s kitchen staff
was used to receiving these ready-toeat for the salad bar, whereas now
they would need to wash and prepare
them from heads of lettuce provided
by the farmer. This required the purchase of a salad spinner and the organization of volunteers to prepare the
greens, as the kitchen staff was already
fully occupied. In the end, FCEC
purchased 246.5 pounds of fresh vegetables for $677.50 during the 2014
season; these items were served only
in the congregate meals provided at
FCEC’s main site in Petoskey.
A survey of seniors who eat at the
FCEC building was conducted. A
total of 96 percent responded that
it was important or very important
to them that FCEC purchases food
from local farms to include in meals;
74 percent were aware that FCEC
was trying to bring in fresh produce
from local farms; and 67 percent
liked the changes to the salad greens.
The volume and value of local
produce included in FCEC’s meal
programs during this first year
was modest. Based on the positive
feedback, however, FCEC is planning to increase both the number of
food items and the number of local
farmers participating in the Farm-toSenior project in 2015.
www.emmetcoa.org