Reconnecting a Local Food Culture

Marty Heller spoke at last week's Great Lakes Bioneers Conference in Traverse City about Reconnecting a Local Food Culture. A transcript of his keynote address is now available online.

Heller is an organic vegetable farmer in Leelanau County, moving here after bicycling with his partner Michelle Ferrarese to 31 Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms across the state. Heller has a PhD in Chemical Engineering, was cited in Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma, and has worked for the CS Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems at MSU.

From his keynote:

For me, reconnecting to a local food culture is about creating a general higher level of understanding -- not just book knowledge, but visceral understanding -- of how and where our food is produced -- what fresh veggies look like in the garden, the provenance of the plants and animals that we eat, and our relationship to them. ...

The great thing is, we're well on our way, especially here in northwest lower Michigan. I've been living in the TC area for less than a year, so I've gotten to see things with fresh eyes, and I'm happy to report that there is a good deal of momentum in the local food movement here.

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