With fall on its way, we thought we’d take a quick moment to revisit one of MLUI’s greatest successes of the summer: our local food project at the Northwestern Michigan Fair, just south of Traverse City.

As you probably know, fairs are places where high-fat foods reign. But as this video shows, MLUI is helping to change this by promoting its Taste the Local Difference Farmers Market.

In its fourth year, this was our hands-down best ever fair farmers market. It not only grew in size, but it’s growing in popularity with fairgoers who are thrilled to have some healthier, local options to eat. 

Our annual fair market complements our hugely successful Cooking With Kids program, which also takes place at the fair, as well as the Double Up Food Bucks campaign, which we are supporting in many ways. Double Up helps low-income families buy more fresh, locally grown foods at the area’s other, full-time farmers markets.

With each passing year, it’s becoming clearer to fairgoers that it doesn’t have to be deep-fried to be delicious!