NW Michigan Food and Farming Network Report to the Community 2015 Report to the Community | Page 57

2015 Report to the community Good Food for All Outreach aims to combat food insecurity By Tom Emling MSU North Community Partners MSU North Community Partners’ ongoing “Good Food for All” outreach to those families and residents who are most vulnerable and food insecure in northwest Michigan is made possible with the help, resources, commitment, and leadership provided by the members and supporters of the Northwest Michigan Food & Farming Network and the FFN Health & Youth Working Group. “Good Food for All” helps to link and advance the FFN’s “Objective 4: 100% of northwest Michigan residents will have access to an ample, high-quality, healthy, and culturally diverse diet, 20% of which comes from the region,” through a combination of MSU North regional food access, security, and health partnerships and memberships, including: Traverse Bay Poverty Reduction Initiative (PRI), Bay Area Senior Advocates (BASA), Traverse Bay Great Start Collaborative (TBGSC), Grand Traverse Pavilions Foundation Board of Directors, Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce, Goodwlll Northern Michigan – Northwest Michigan Food Rescue Advisory Board & Northwest Food Coalition, MSU + Northwestern Michigan College Applied Plant Science Certificate & Associate Degree Program, MSU Extension Improving Health and Nutrition Institute: Northwest Michigan – District 3 & 14 MSUE educators; MSU College of Human Medicine + Munson Medical Family Practice Center, and Benzie Sunrise Rotary Club 2014 Food Security Study. As a guiding principle and complementary benchmark for the Northwest Michigan Food & Farming Network’s Objective 4, together with MSU North’s “Good Food for All” community partner affiliations and outreach, are the Michigan Good Food Charter’s 2020 vision that 52 “80% of Michigan residents will have easy access to affordable, fresh, healthy food, 20% of which is from Michigan sources,” and the Fair Food Network’s work in Michigan offering a national solution that upholds “the fundamental right to healthy, fresh, and sustainably grown food by improving healthy food access.” MSU North Community Partners’ “Good Food for All” work is conducted as a university service of Michigan State, in affiliation with the MSU Center for Regional Food Systems (CRFS) and the Department of Community Sustainability, on the East Lansing campus. Tom Emling, MSU North Community Partners’ regional director, is on-assignment from Traverse City. Should you need additional information or have questions of any kind, please contact Tom by phone at 231-2189947 or email: [email protected]. www.foodsystems.msu.edu