BUILDING AN EQUITABLE FOOD SYSTEM
A COLLABORATION BETWEEN
Local First launched the Good for Grand Rapids campaign. Its goal was to recognize companies making a measurable, positive contribution to Grand Rapids. During its first year, roughly 70 businesses took the Quick Impact Assessment. Of these, eight top-scoring businesses were selected to receive the Good for Grand Rapids Awards at the first annual awards ceremony.
Local Action. Global Impact.
Nourish Our Community amplifies the work of the 2022 Michigan Good Food Charter from the Center for Regional Food Systems. The 2022 Charter outlines a shared vision for a good food system in Michigan with six goals, six strategies, and 22 action recommendations. The Charter calls for systemic change by supporting food systems that ensure food is accessible to everyone, promote healthy communities, use fair and sustainable production methods, and support a diverse and equitable society.
In addition to organizations in Michigan, the Nourish Our Community initiative aligns with global efforts to create positive change. The Sustainable Development Goals are outlined by the United Nations Global Compact and recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests. What are the SDGs?
Ways to start
Good For Michigan Grocery List
Think of this as a checklist for your business to get more engaged in a prosperous food system. Each item contains helpful tools to help you create a People First Economy.
Share your progress on your social channels to create FOMO among your peers and show off your values to your customers.
Right click (or tap and hold) on the images to save them, then upload to your social media!
Local First Grocery List
Think of this as a checklist to get more engaged as an individual in a food economy that puts People First.
Share your progress on your social channels to create FOMO for your friends!
Right click (or tap and hold) on the images to save them, then upload to your social media!
Dig Deeper
People of color are leading a resurgence of interest in farming in the Northeast, and yet for these farmers, the barriers to starting a farm remain high. Between lending discrimination and rising costs, many obstacles stand in the way of Black Americans looking to own farmland.
Black business owners experience losses disproportionate from the average. In fact, while active business owners in general fell by a huge 3.3 million during this past year, the number of Black business owners fell by a staggering 41%. In our local food world, less than 2% of farmers are Black business owners, due to historical and ongoing systemic racism.
Why do you buy locally-grown food? Is it the flavor and quality? The chance to build community connections and relationships? To support a strong local economy? To have a positive environmental impact? Most likely, it’s some combination of all of the above.
The commonly used term for neighborhoods lacking access to healthy, affordable food is “food desert.” However, Karen Washington, a food justice advocate, is attempting to shift public discourse by coining the term “food apartheid.”
The Anishinaabe are people of a particular place, as the Indigenous peoples of the Great Lakes. Our identities, histories, spirituality, and traditions are inseparable from our respective ancestral territories.
A story of one person’s first experience getting a CSA share (and what they did with the contents).
Green Wagon Farm talks about how using simple, ancient techniques helps them grow food that’s produced sustainably, shared equitably, and enjoyed with pleasure.
Food SPICE (Food Systems Partners Investing in Communities and Entrepreneurs) connects food businesses and other food systems partners to work together to grow equitable local economies across Michigan, with a special focus in Southwest Michigan and the Upper Peninsula.
Our vision is a thriving economy, equity, and sustainability for Michigan, the country, and the planet through food systems rooted in local regions and centered on Good Food: food that is healthy, green, fair, and affordable.
Michigan Good Food Fund is a statewide loan fund that invests in good food enterprises working to increase access to healthy food and spark economic opportunity in places that need it most.
Bridge Street Market is your neighborhood grocery store bringing fresh, affordable, and local products to Grand Rapids’ vibrant West Side and beyond.
