Up North Foodies

Farmers face skyrocketing costs

Rising costs put the squeeze on local farmers as they face a growing season unlike any other. Check out Input costs skyrocket, hurt farmers in today's Traverse City Record-Eagle.

Michigan Wine Summit Observations

Check out Cari Noga's coverage of this week's Michigan Wine Summit in Wines & Vines, where she notes that "Michigan wineries could be ideally positioned to capitalize on the locavore trend--but they might have to be a little sneaky about it at first. That paradox emerged at the second annual Northern Michigan Wine Summit."

Also see Bill O'Brien's article in the Record-Eagle, where he writes that "One national wine author said a key to growing the region's wine market is to highlight the spectacular views and venues for wineries on the Old Mission Peninsula and Leelanau County, surroundings that other wine-making regions find hard to match."

New cooking series at Grand Traverse Resort

The new Cooking Live! series kicks off May 13 at the Grand Traverse Resort & Spa with "Cooking with Morels." Each monthly demo will be approximately 45 minutes long and will feature Executive Chef Ted Cizma and his culinary staff from Aerie Restaurant and Lounge. Other offerings will include Cherry Desserts; Local, Sustainable, Organic; Cooking with Beer; Cooking Wild Game, and more.

Manna Food Project Needs Your Help

Manna Food Project helps feed almost 30,000 local families each year by distributing food to 37 pantries and agencies throughout Emmet, Charlevoix and Antrim counties. The nonprofit has partnered with Leadership Little Traverse on the "Feeding our Future" project, which will support expanding Manna's building.

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Smoothing the way for local foods in schools

Kudos to the Michigan Land Use Institute for spurring action in Lansing to address Michigan's restrictive food rules. Diane Conners reports that a state legislator and the state agricultural commission are each trying to change state bidding requirements that hamper a school's ability to buy significant amounts of foods from local farms. MLUI's Farm to School: Healthy Kids, Thriving Farms conference shone a light on this situation last month, and MLUI further hammered it home in a follow-up essay by Beth Collins.

Eat Red campaign promoting cherries

The Cherry Marketing Institute's "Eat Red" marketing campaign to get cherries into the mainstream is seeing promising results, according to Phil Korson of the Cherry Marketing Institute.

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A Local Food Economy

Check out these thought provokers in support of local economies, including local food economies that encompass buying local seasonal foods. Then buy local. It just makes sense.

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Raclette featured in Freep

The phones are ringing off the hook at the Leelanau Cheese Company after the Detroit Free Press did a story on its aged raclette, It's the best cheese in America. The cheese was judged best in show at last summer's 24th annual American Cheese Society's competition.

Pierogies benefit Historical Society

Fourteen cooks recently gathered to learn how to make pierogies at a fundraiser benefitting the Otsego County Historical Society. Check out the article in the Gaylord Herald Times, which includes a recipe from Rudi and Sandi Edel, who taught the class. The society offers cooking classes from time to time to raise money for museum expenses.

Bl*ck St*r F*rms

Buy a vowel and some vino! A six-night stay at Black Star Farms will be one of the prizes on Friday's episode of Wheel of Fortune.

"After being named one of bedandbreakfast.com's Top Ten Eco-Friendly Inns, we were invited to provide a prize for Wheel of Fortune's Green Week," states an entry posted today on Black Star Farm's web site. "We're told that the show will air on April 11th and that a contestant did win the prize. We're waiting to see who won, and ready to make their visit spectacular...just like we do for all our guests."

Food for Thought finalist for TC Chamber Award

The honors continue for Food for Thought, an Honor, Michigan-based company that produces award-winning Fair Trade and organic specialty foods. The company is one of 10 finalists for the Traverse City Chamber's 2008 Hagerty Small Business of the Year award announced yesterday. The winner will be announced at a luncheon May 21 at the Hagerty Center on NMC's Great Lakes Campus in Travese City.

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Another Winery Opening this Summer

Silver Leaf Vineyard and Winery plans to open its tasting room near Suttons Bay this summer, reports Cari Noga. Owned by Mark and Patti Carlson, the winery joins three others in northern Michigan: Two Lads on Old Mission and Circa Estate Winery and Forty-Five North in Leelanau. Silver Leaf is still awaiting its wine license, and expects its first crush this fall. In the meantime, it'll buy wine from Chateau de Leelanau to sell at the Silver Leaf tasting room under its own label.

Green Garden Classes

Check out the 10 Green Garden Programs offered by MSU Extension this summer in Leelanau County. All programs emphasize environmentally friendly, sustainable garden practices, and are intended for backyard gardeners. Programs range from Home Fruit Production, to No-Til Gardening, to Garden Maintenance and Tools. Contact Pam Schmidt at MSU Extension-Leelanau, 231-256-9888; or schmi345@msu.edu.

Crain’s picks up Michigan Grapevine

Congratulations to Cari Noga, whose Michigan GrapeVine blog will now appear monthly in Crain's Detroit Business. Based in Traverse City, Michigan, Noga has covered the state's grape and wine industry since 1999.

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