Center for Resilient Communities. Groundworkcenter.org Groundwork Center is: Hans Voss - Executive Director Jim Lively - Program Director Amy MacKay - Development Director Cindy Rebman - Accountant James Bruckbauer - Transportation Policy Diane Conners - Food & Farming Senior Policy Specialist Jim Dulzo - Clean Energy Senior Policy Specialist Shauna Treter - Program Development Specialist James Russell - Communications Manager Amy Schneider - Administrative Coordinator Taste the Local Difference® is: Bill Palladino - Project Director Tricia Phelps - Project Coordinator The TLD Guide to Local Food is published by Taste the Local Difference® C/O The Groundwork Center 148 E. Front Street Traverse City, MI 49684 Phone: (231)941-6584 Email: guide@localdifference.org www.localdifference.org Cover photo taken at Idyll Farms, Northport, Michigan. Featuring Stephanie Gallego, sous chef from The Franklin Restaurant in Traverse City, and Will Manty, farm manager of Idyll Farms. Basket provided by Cali’s in Traverse City. Layout & Design: MyNorth Media Map Design: Flight Path Creative
Photo Contributors:
GARY HOWE
Taste the Local Difference® is a social enterprise of the Groundwork
Local Food, It’s Not Just A Zip Code! This magazine is our 12th annual food and farm guide for northwest Lower Michigan. ince , Taste the Local Difference® has been serving the farms, farmers, and food businesses in this region with a variety of support services. The stories, articles, maps, and listings in this guide represent some of the hundreds of relationships we’ve built and sustained over the years. The guide is our way of presenting the best that northern Michigan’s local food community has to offer. De ning the importance of local food is more than ust about assigning a ip code. It is about the trust gained by knowing the people involved in growing and producing our food. It’s not enough to say, I trust the food because it comes from ity . We must be able to go a step further and understand the relationship every grower has with the land. We must know what each processor is putting into a ar of am. We must know that the owner of the grocery store where we shop is committed to the community where we live. We should trust that these people will tell us the truth about how they treat their soils, or the origin of a product’s ingredients and that they will do so freely. This transparency allows us as consumers to take a leap of faith. It allows us to understand the true value of the product we’re about to buy. It helps us connect the dots from the farm to the table by drawing a clear and unbroken line. Taste the Local Difference® creates ongoing relationships that encourage this truth, trust, and transparency. All of the farms, processors, and businesses represented by the TLD brand have signed our pledge to consumers. It’s our way of making that leap of faith less of a challenge. ou can learn more at localdifference.org and throughout this edition of the TLD uide. We’re thrilled to be your resource for local food and farms in northwest Michigan and we hope you’ll use the TLD brand to nd local food you know you can trust.
Gary L. Howe, Tricia Phelps, Anne Morningstar, Cherry Capital Foods, Erin O'Malley, Chelsea Bay Dennis, Bluestem Farm, Sharron May
By Tricia Phelps - TLD Project Coordinator Northwest Michigan
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