Welcome to Michigan Week at SGT!
This week we are delighted to feature a series of posts about small farmers and artisans in the Great Lake State. Today, we give you a bit of background on the state of small agriculture in Michigan and profile a new business called—our readers will appreciate this—“Local.” Over the next two days we will look at two other family farm businesses, and on Friday offer some thoughts about the future of small-scale ag in Michigan.
21st Century Agriculture in Michigan
When you think of Michigan what comes to mind? Did you think:
- Detroit
- Rustbelt
- Bail out
- Snow
- Perhaps “Motown?"
While those are all part of the state’s history, Michigan has long been a locavore’s paradise and a quiet agricultural powerhouse.
- It is home to more than 55,000 farms on 10 million acres.
- Multifarious microclimates support more than 200 food and fiber products, making the state the second most agriculturally diverse in the nation.
- It leads the U.S. in producing tart cherries, pickling cucumbers, squash, and vegetable-type bedding plants.
- It’s second nationally in beans, carrots, celery, and plums — and artisan distilleries.
- It is the third largest producer of asparagus and apples.
- It is also known for maple syrup, and award-winning beers (70 breweries at last count) and wines (23 wineries in Southwest Michigan alone).
Southwest Michigan is the focus of this series. Only two hours from Chicago, the region has long won visitors because of its beautiful beaches, rivers, and nature. More recently, food is taking its place as a main attraction in this largely agricultural region.
We may be at a “back to the future” moment for agriculture. The number of Michigan farms increased by more than 5 percent between 2002 and 2007, while the average acreage dropped 6 percent to 179 acres, considerably smaller than the size of the average US farm. Through the renamed Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Governor Rick Snyder has signaled his administration’s intent to grow this sector of the state’s economy.
Local is Really Local
Two people eager to be part of this revolution are Pat and Ellie Mullins. The couple will soon open Local, a source for artisanal cured meats. It was in culinary school that Pat started to really think about where food came from. For Ellie, growing up in Belgium meant fresh markets that went on for blocks, and she says, “getting fresh bread every day was just the way we ate.”
As a chef, Pat was influenced by farm-to-table restaurants like Blackbird in Chicago and the Hungry Cat in Santa Barbara. He and Ellie met working at the Hungry Cat, where they both shopped the farmers’ market for the restaurant. A few years back, they learned about the economics of small-scale agriculture when Pat’s mother and stepfather bought a farm. Pat and Ellie realized they really cared about what they ate. Local’s concept took shape after six months working on a New Zealand farm with the Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) program.
Photograph of Local's sausagesWhile not farmers themselves, Pat and Ellie say their relationship with local farmers is indispensable. Their thinking is that local ingredients are tastier and more nutritious than their far away counterparts, and they believe that people value these things. The farmers and producers they work with share their passion about how crops and animals are grown and raised. Ellie says, “The greatest satisfaction is this relationship [with farmers and producers]. We have hogs that will be ready in March and the farmers ask ‘What do you want us to feed them?’ You can know your pig.”
There are challenges. Sourcing ingredients locally, in season, means things are not always available, despite customers’ expectations. So customers need to be encouraged to try what is available. And artisanal food made with small farm ingredients is incrementally costly; small producers do not benefit from economies of scale. Local hopes to educate its market about the benefits of handcrafted foods. Local is more than a livelihood. Ellie says “It’s what we believe and love . . . It’s who we are.” Pat reflects on the journey. “We found our little niche in how we can help the world in what we think is the way to go.”
Although passionate about the politics of food and creating a healthy society, Pat sums it up more simply: “We’re trying to make really good food. We just want people to enjoy it. They don’t have to have all our beliefs. Maybe over time they’ll say ‘This is cool, how they do it is cool and where it comes from is cool.’ That would be a great outcome. But we want to make a space that’s comfortable for everybody . . . where people come for good food.”
Local, opening Spring 2011, will be located in:
New Buffalo, MI
269.231.5138
The store will sell homemade sausage, bacon, pancetta, lunchmeats, hams, mortadella, salami, porchetta, and pastrami.
Paula Bartholome combines part-time teaching at DePaul University’s School for New Learning and occasional work through her firm Parallax with a full-time love of all things food – growing, eating and promoting – in her Southwest Michigan hometown, New Buffalo. She blogs about living simply, eating well, and walking softly on the earth at Garden-Table and occasionally about blooming where you are planted at BajiggityLife. Email her at gardentotableinfo@gmail.com.
