This year’s Northwestern Michigan Fair was a week of great beginnings.

It started when local attorney and farmer Dan Hubble, a firm believer in our Taste the Local Difference project, invited me to talk to his fellow fair board members about getting more local foods into the fair. He felt this year’s 100th Anniversary fair was a great opportunity to showcase our region’s many agricultural offerings. In past years, there were many local things there--local kids, local animals, but not much local food. You could view the prize-winning zucchini or tomato, but finding local food to eat was difficult. So was finding healthy food.

We talked with the board about Taste the Local Difference, offered to help food vendors localize their menus, and suggested we staff a Taste the Local Difference booth at the fair to feature local products. Everyone agreed to this would be a good start, and the response was overwhelming!

We contacted the vendors and encouraged them to purchase local products. We also contacted 4-H; they always have a food booth at the fair and seemed like natural partners in promoting local agriculture. I worked very closely with their coordinator, Kay Wagner who was very excited by the idea. She was considering adding fruit and veggie bowls to their menu, but getting local fruits and veggies would be even better.

I helped Kay line up five local farms to supply the produce: Buchan's Blueberry Hill, King Orchards, Black Star Farms, Zenner Farms, and Marvin's Garden Spot. It was well worth the work it took to gather items from each farm: Kay and her staff were thrilled with the beautiful, fresh produce and happily posted a sign announcing the farms.

Fairgoers were thrilled, too: 4-H sold out of fruit bowls in just a few hours and needed more produce to keep up with the demand! It was exciting to watch it all unfold: the smiles on the farmers faces as I picked up more produce, the 4-H staff in awe at the popularity of their new menu items, fairgoers’ pleasure at finding some fresh, healthier options to eat.

We quickly started thinking about next year; 4-H is considering buying ground beef from local farmers and adding a fresh local green salad to their menu.

We shared our booth with Cherry Capital Foods. Together we passed out our Taste the Local Difference food guides; sold fresh, local produce, beverages, and snacks; and talked to people about how local food and our local economy connect. So many people stopped by, excited to see the fresh produce and local products. Over and over we heard, “I'm so glad you're doing this!"

We sold local tomatoes to a vendor who began making fried green tomatoes at her booth; we provided another with a week's supply of local sweet corn; we sold fresh green beans to the fairgrounds restaurant. We even helped fairground campers looking for tomatoes, potatoes, and corn for dinner!

The fair board members stopped by all week to say how glad they were to have us there. Now they are committed to supporting local farmers in many more ways in the future. So this is just the beginning: We're talking about a weeklong farmer's market and more healthy foods choices. What a wonderful lesson--about how some very small steps can lead to some really exciting things for local farms and local food!

	Wolverine Power Cooperative now wants to burn toxic petroleum coke in its proposed “Clean Energy Venture” power plant next to Rogers City.

It turns out that Wolverine Power Cooperative, which wants to build two 300 MW coal-burning power plant next to Rogers City, also plans to burn lots of petroleum coke there, too—part of its “Wolverine Clean Energy Venture.”

Environmental Law and Policy Center legal eagles discovered that big change while tracking the plant’s state air emissions permit application. ELPC and a several citizen groups, including the Institute, notified county officials in January, and the Presque Isle County Planning Commission is wrestling with the issue.

Petroleum coke contains many more toxic heavy metals than coal, presenting special transportation, storage, and water runoff problems—especially since Wolverine would store it near Lake Huron. It emits much more sulfur and nitrous oxides than coal when burned, presenting new air pollution control problems; it generates highly toxic ash, presenting still more transportation and burial problems—to the tune of about 180 semi-truckloads a day.

And it must be burned in a “circulating fluidized bed,” an old technology whose main advantage is that is can burn many things, not just coal.

Wolverine claims it’s been clear about burning petroleum coke ever since it asked—and so quickly received, without providing much information—a special use permit from the county two years ago. But there’s precious little evidence of that in the public record, and absolutely nothing about it in the permit, according to planning commissioner Bud DeLong. And there’s still nothing about burning pet coke on the company’s Web site, either.

On July 17, at the planning commission’s bi-monthly meeting, the Institute and the Michigan Energy Alternatives Project presented a power point explaining what pet coke really is and echoed Mr. DeLong’s point that the commissioners are unable to agree on what their special use permit actually allows. At least one commissioner thought pet coke was coal; and at least two said they have supported the idea based on unofficial meetings they had with Wolverine months ago.

After Mr. DeLong sharply reminded them on what the special use permit actually says, and after they were handed a second letter from ELPC, the Institute, and our Clean Energy Coalition allies about pet coke’s problems, the planning commission, by a one-vote margin, agreed that, before Wolverine can burn pet coke, it needs an amendment to its special use permit.

That means another public hearing and a chance to educate the community about the dangers of burning leftover toxic trash from oil refineries in a “Clean Energy Venture” that uses a technology that is famous mostly for being able to burn almost anything.

There is some speculation that the company will, instead of agreeing to a hearing, take the matter to the zoning appeals board or, perhaps, sue over the planning commission decision.

Public hearing or not, we will be at the next planning commission meeting, currently scheduled for the Presque Isle County Courthouse for Sept. 18 at 6:30 p.m., with much more information about pet coke. We're compiling the research now, and we're finding out some pretty disturbing things about burning the oil companies' cheap junk.

And we will continue to remind my Rogers City and Presque Isle County neighbors that there's a path to a far more prosperous future that much of the country is already embracing--one that protects our tourist economy, our community's health, Lake Huron, and our forests, inland lakes, and streams.

That path includes smart investments by Wolverine in money-saving home and business energy-efficiency measures instead of expensive new coal-based electricity, many dozens of wind turbines, acres of ever-cheaper solar panels, and growing and burning locally grown biomass--things that can be accomplished far more quickly than building a $1.5 billion coal plant, a project that will push electricity prices through the roof, with little benefit to county residents.

It's a path that would trigger a jobs boom that would far surpass the job-making ability of any new coal plant anywhere in the world.

Jim Dulzo is the Michigan Land Use Institute's managing editor. He's spent summers at his family cottage in Presque Isle County since 1950. Reach him at jimdulzo@mlui.org.

Benzie County is making real progress on updating its badly outdated zoning ordinance.

Last Thursday night, the county held a public workshop to review portions of the ordinance, and Benzie County Planning Commission Chairman Cliff Graves said he was pleased with the meeting, which drew nearly two dozen local residents.

“We had some good questions from the public, some good discussion, and so far so good,” Mr. Graves said. “This project is proceeding according to plan.”

The Michigan Land Use Institute has chronicled the problems with the county’s zoning ordinance and the failure of county to update it in a timely fashion. The old ordinance languished for nearly eight years after the county enacted an award-winning master plan that encourages thoughtful land use and economic development in community centers. One year ago this spring, two planning experts from Michigan State University released a report, Crisis in Confidence, that clearly outlined the problems within the county’s planning, zoning, and building departments, and said the fact that the old ordinance still did not match the “new” master plan was a major problem.

A thoroughly updated zoning ordinance will allow county officials to actually implement the forward-thinking but long-dormant master plan.

Craig Seger, Benzie’s zoning administrator, said the county is almost done with phase one of zoning update. The county’s special Zoning Ordinance Review Committee has fine tuned definitions and general provisions; this week the Benzie Planning Commissioners will decide whether to adopt them or ask for more tweaks.

The county is also eyeing a possible new a wind-energy ordinance. Mr. Seger said he wants the county to have an airtight ordinance for properly developing wind farms and is looking to its coastal communities, including the City of Frankfort, the Village of Elberta, and Blaine, Gilmore, Crystal Lake, and Lake Township to participate.

“We expect all of these communities will come together and develop similar language so that Benzie County can be strong and collaborative on its wind energy permitting and processing,” he said.

Then comes the arduous task of updating the zoning maps to fit as closely as possible with the master plan’s land use maps. It will be tough, because the county needs all townships included in the county zoning ordinance to agree on how specific private lands will develop in the coming decades.

Mr. Seger said he’s optimistic, because the county has been diligently trying to repair relationships with the local governments it serves. He predicted that the end result will be a zoning ordinance that is good for everyone in Benzie.

“Our current zoning ordinance is like a 1978 Cutlass, and we’ve kept putting bondo on it over the years,” Mr. Seger said. “This is the end of the bondo. What we are going to do is get us a new, highly effective ordinance to take us into the future. We are making significant progress.”

Benzie County Planning Director Dave Neiger has endured his fair share of criticism over the last few years, so we are pleased to give him some well-deserved credit.

Specifically, we were impressed with Mr. Neiger at last week’s meeting of the Benzie County chapter of the Michigan Township Association. He was there to offer representatives of local townships support on planning matters, and it was plain he does have a lot to offer.

Mr. Neiger gave advice to township supervisors on something few of them have much experience with: how to deal with new oil and gas drilling sites that may crop up in Benzie in the coming years. Given the high prices of both those fuels, and the fact that landsman have gone house to house over the past year urging residents to sign drilling agreements, it’s crucial that township boards understand the rights, obligations, and regulations involved.

Benzie’s planner also told the MTA members that he’s following through on updating the county’s award-winning master plan—something he and a special zoning ordinance review committee have made steady progress on since last fall year. As part of that endeavor, Mr. Neiger is establishing another, separate committee that will try to keep the townships well informed of the county’s progress.

That is exactly the kind of thing that Benzie County officials need to do, and Mr. Neiger deserves recognition for his work.

He and other county officials have drawn fire for Benzie’s failure to translate the county master plan, developed more than a decade ago with a broad array of community support, into the necessary enforceable zoning ordinances that would make the vision behind that thoughtful, forward-looking plan come true.

That failure was one reason Inland and Homestead Townships gave for pulling out of countywide planning and zoning last year. Other reasons for leaving—a move some other townships have considered—were listed in last year’s Crisis of Confidence report, an independent analysis of the county’s operational problems commissioned by the county.

But Benzie may be turning a corner now. Officials like Mr. Neiger, Zoning Director Craig Seger, and a number of planning commission members are working to improve the county’s internal operations and its external communication and image. Perhaps, over time, Benzie’s townships will realize that the county can actually help them, their taxpayers, and countywide quality of life by playing a significant role—perhaps even the lead role—in planning and zoning. That would be good for everyone.

	Dietician Laura McCain’s monthly farmers market cooking classes are attracting Munson Health Center employees.

But one Friday a month this summer, including this Friday, Aug. 8, Ms. McCain grabs her wok and heads to the farmers market just down the street from her office in the Munson Medical Center—and entices fellow employees to follow her.

This pied piper of good food woos and wows her fellow employees with chef demonstrations and recipes for simple dishes made from whatever’s in season and at the nearby market. The hundreds of other shoppers at the Farmers Market at the Village at Grand Traverse Commons (a wooded, redeveloped former psychiatric hospital grounds) also join in the fun. And farmers, who want to stay on their land rather than sell to developers, happily sell their produce to the newly educated customers.

Ms. McCain is on a joyful mission. She figures it’s her job to help people eat healthy, particularly in these days of skyrocketing obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. And she believes farm-fresh food is the gold standard for nutrition and taste.

She’s not alone. In California, for example, physician Preston Maring launched one of the best-known hospital-based farmers markets in the country. He wanted to make it easier for hospital employees and visitors to find healthy food—a natural for a health care provider. Any large employer could do it, too.

At one point, Ms. McCain, a trained chef, considered copying Dr. Maring’s model. She was already featuring fresh local farm products in special hospital cafeteria meals, distributing the nonprofit Michigan Land Use Institute’s Taste the Local Difference guide to local farm food, buying lots of its featured product wholesale, and displaying that fresh food grocery-store-style so employees could pick up a pint of blackberries or a bundle of asparagus to take home. Employees love it; for example, they bought 750 pounds of asparagus this year.

So launching a hospital farmers market seemed a natural next step.

But there was already a farmers market a short walk away, tucked away from Munson’s view, behind trees and historic Victorian-era buildings. She didn’t know how many employees knew about this gem outside their back door, yet she knew they needed to eat more fruits and veggies: A hospital survey revealed workers were eating only three servings a day, not the recommended five to nine.

The determined dietician sent out a hospital-wide email encouraging employees to go to the market, and promised to teach them how to cook what they bought: stir-fries, fresh vinaigrettes, veggie frittatas. So she headed to the market with her wok and portable burner.

“All the produce was absolutely gorgeous,” she said “Even the turnips—which don’t have a glamorous reputation—were just beautiful. The garlic cloves were huge and juicy. It’s such a pleasure to cook with such beautiful food.”

But will promoting a farmers market within walking distance help busy workers eat better?

Twenty Munson employees showed up at Ms. McCain’s first demo to taste her simple but sumptuous fare. No doubt, word will spread: It’s easy, healthy, and tasty. And it preserves the view.

So, if you’re in Traverse City this Friday, visit the market at Grand Traverse Commons, between 4 and 5 p.m., when Ms. McCain, her wok, and her good food will be there.

	Wolverine Power Supply Company wants to build a substation along a scenic stretch of highway heading towards Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

It is also about the ability of local governments—in this case two townships—to determine how they will grow, and whether or not our utilities are taking steps to meet our new energy future.

In case you haven’t heard, Wolverine Power Supply Cooperative Inc., the same firm that wants to build a very large coal-, petroleum coke-, and wood-burning generating plant in Rogers City, is trying to quiet public opposition to a new transmission substation it says it needs to meet future energy demand in Leelanau County.

The stretch of road where it wants to build the structure is right next to Traverse City Light and Power’s graceful, iconic wind turbine—the state’s first—and is also a gateway to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, the only national park in our region. A lot of people think it is a peculiar location to place such an unsightly complex of metal and wire.

Before proposing the substation for Elmwood, Wolverine tried to build it in Garfield Township. But it encountered opposition from Garfield’s zoning board of appeals. Now that Elmwood has also formally turned down the proposal, the firm is appealing to the Michigan Public Service Commission.

A number of hearing about the proposal over the past few months, including last week’s, (which MPSC requires for utilities trying to avoid local zoning), revealed deep skepticism about the idea.

Some people wonder whether there really is an increase in demand for electricity in this area, given the number of shuttered businesses and homes for sale. Others ask why would we allow an expansion of the electricity grid’s capacity when Michigan may soon start doing what a number of other states do: Require utilities to help their customers take steps to reduce their energy demand. Some states that have done this, including both warm- and cold-weather ones, have had downright amazing results.

If Wolverine was working on energy efficiency, rather than on new transmission capacity and new generation that uses pet coke, a very dirty and somewhat experimental fuel, it could save its customers, including members of Cherryland Electric Coop, which imports its power from Wolverine, some serious money, air pollution, and global warming gases. And it could preserve some nice scenery.

As I said in my remarks at last week’s hearing, the Wolverine substation proposal goes against local zoning; the public process has been incomplete; and it remains unclear whether the project is even necessary.

One has to wonder: Exactly who would benefit from a new electrical transmission substation? Until Wolverine can answer this question, it’s likely that the company will continue to run into opposition for their bid to invest big money in their inefficient, outdated approach to powering our new energy future.

Enough worrying and wondering! Let’s focus on how easy it can be, really, to find and eat good, affordable food when a community comes together to make it happen.

And because it’s not so easy right now for communities to make it happen, I want the next president of the United States to do something about it. He should turn over the bad-apple cart of policies that have kept American families, neighbors, and local businesses away buying and selling good food from and to each other for so long.

That’s why I just signed on to a fun and exciting campaign calling for our next president to plant the White House lawn in food and “Eat the View.”

Imagine an edible landscape at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue that delights visiting heads of state with just-picked peach compote and supplies inside-the-beltway restaurants with utterly fresh carrots, eggplant, and tomatoes. Imagine how many city parks, municipal building lawns, and schoolyards would go edible, too, if the ‘First Lawn’ literally went first!

Eat the View is part of a campaign by Kitchen Gardeners International to promote planting healthy, edible landscapes in high-impact, high visibility places.

The magic of this campaign is that it can reintroduce America to the long-forgotten fact that good food can literally be right out your front door, whether in your own garden, from a neighbor’s garden, or a commercial garden that grew into supplying local schools, hospitals and restaurants. It all fits and flows together, like our dinner last night: herbs from my garden, chicken and potatoes from families selling at the farmers market, and cucumbers from a neighbor.

The more we sow these local food seeds—from home to commercial garden—the sooner we will see more of this good food in local supermarkets, schools, and hospitals. It takes a village to raise anything! And it takes a leader to both inspire us and clear the policy path for local food entrepreneurs who want to do it all, from building local distribution businesses to investing in community-scale meat processing.

This should be part of what Senators John McCain and Barack Obama are talking about out on the political stump, don’t you think? If so, send your election message to both of them by signing the Eat the View petition and voting for the idea at OnDayOne.org.

“There’s something about the way things look on a hot, July night,” I thought to myself as my husband and I headed home after Food for Thought’s Green Cuisine gathering. Everything was brimming with the fullness of summer that I often long for in wintertime: Songbirds at dusk, fields filled with corn, families gathered around a bonfire…

This was my first-ever Green Cuisine: Celebration of Local Food and Living. Timothy and Kathy Young started these fine parties three years ago to spread the good news about the good things local food and sustainable business practices bring.

The event is one of the region’s most talked-about local food events—and one of the few that’s truly green. The “zero-waste” event featured nothing but reusable, recyclable, or compostable products. So the cups and utensils weren’t thrown in the garbage, but will be composted. And the plates, which were made from non-bleached, recycled content went straight into their compost heap, along with the food scraps. They’ll end up as fertilizer on Kathy and Tim’s organic farm, as well as on other nearby farms.

At the event, we sampled delicious food and drink from some of the areas finest restaurants, food producers, and vintners. We toured Food for Thought’s processing facility, and strolled around their organic farm and green buildings.

It was a great opportunity to meet others in the community who are either involved or interested in local food and sustainable living. There were hundreds of guests: farmers, restaurant owners, grocers, bankers, magazine editors, bakers, and neighbors. We visited with farmers Walt and Sharon Harris, and discussed asparagus and strawberry varieties. Chef Perry Harmon and I chatted about his growing biscotti business. I talked about all things “tea” with Angela Macke.

I overhead many conversations that included the word “inspired.” People said they were inspired to purchase more local food, switch to compostable products, and look into greener energy solutions for their homes and businesses.

Yes, it was inspiring—and it’s challenging me to think more about what I can do, too.

On our drive home, we detoured toward Empire to watch the stunning sunset over Lake Michigan. What a beautiful place we live in, here along a Great Lake, with peninsulas and rivers and wildlife—and agriculture. And how fortunate we are to have folks like Timothy and Kathy, whose mission is to live in an earth-friendly way and share it with others. They give us something to ponder: How can we live greener? What changes can we make in our lives to support the waters, the land, the people of this amazing region? How we live our lives says a lot about what we value. Timothy and Kathy have given us some real food for thought.

This year, the Michigan Land Use Institute celebrated the publication of its fifth annual Taste the Local Difference farm food guide with a special event: A lively gathering around fine local food and drink spiced with an inspirational address about just how successful a local food economy can be, given by someone who should know.

Diana Endicott, manager of the Kansas City area’s Good Natured Family Farms cooperative, told an enthusiastic crowd of about 140 people the back-story of her co-op, which by 2007 was enjoying $10 million in annual retail sales to 30 supermarkets in Kansas City. Good Natured, with its 100 small- and medium-sized farms, is one of the nation’s best examples of a diverse range of growers, each with their own products and perspectives, coming together under a common brand to forge a new market reality.

Ms. Endicott told those at the festive gathering, held in Traverse City and called Fresh Fields for Fantastic Foods, about next steps for a local food economy. Co-sponsored by the Institute, the Traverse Bay Economic Development Corporation, and the Northwest Michigan Council of Governments, the event attracted a powerful mix of people, including growers, food buyers, and community leaders.

They were very focused on learning from the best and doing what they can to grow jobs, build health, and protect land with food that is thousands of miles fresher!

Ms. Endicott explained the fundamental values and practical approaches behind the success of the Good Natured Family Farms brand and cooperative.

Watch the video and you will learn how the cooperative:
1. Makes sure it stays on consumers’ minds by placing at least one product in every grocery store department, from meat to mixes.
2. Blends the price expectations of different types of farms into one that works for all, called “lifestyle pricing.”
3. Operates as a network of producer groups, with one farm as the lead contact and coordinator in each.
4. Meets processing and distribution needs by partnering, or just biting the bullet and starting up a small meat processing plant, for example, themselves.

There’s more ... Enjoy!

Video provided by Joe Mielke

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

P.S. You might also want to check out this extensive case study on Good Natured Family Farms at the Wallace Center for Agriculture and Natural Resources Web site. http://www.wallacecenter.org/our-work/Resource-Library/Innovative-Models/GNFF_Innovative_Model.pdf/view

There’s big news about global warming, and it’s heating up Traverse City.

The godfather of global warming awareness is coming to town on Sept. 7—and I do not mean Al Gore.

But I do mean Bill McKibbon, the noted author and speaker, who has been warning us about climate change for more than 30 years. These days, Mr. McKibben has a very positive message about the problem, and many of the actions he suggests are right in line with what we’ve been saying for years at the Institute.

As he explains in this video about his new book, Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future, eating more local foods, living in more vibrant urban communities, investing locally instead of in Wall Street, and enjoying our own area’s entertainment and culture can be a big part of stopping global warming.

Mr. McKibben points out that these simple things are not only good for the planet, they will make us happier by improving our quality of life each and every day.

The Institute’s Taste the Local Difference campaign is just that kind of thing: It not only promotes eating local and delicious food, it’s also good for the planet. McKibben’s book has countless other examples, several of them paralleling projects we work on—better public transportation, more walkable neighborhoods, smartly designed communities that are far more friendly to building a local economy in all sorts of ways.

The Institute partnered with a number of area organizations to bring Bill to town, and we’ve dubbed the event “TC-350.” That plays on McKibben’s own new campaign, called www.350.org. That number refers to how much carbon dioxide there is in the atmosphere, and the fact that we all must do our part, and quickly, to bring that number down.

The Institute is proud to join with so many partners and sponsor organizations—non-profits, schools, business leaders, local governments and more—to bring Bill McKibben to our community. It says a lot about the Grand Traverse region that so many different kinds of groups are working on this together. Fortunately, it is exactly the kind of collaboration that will help us meet the incredible challenge that is coming right at us.