A guide to local produce and food markets in the northern Michigan area will be available beginning this weekend.
The guide is being produced by a food marketing agency called “Taste the Local Difference.” It aims to provide better support for farmers and producers in Michigan.
The magazine provides foods, farms and locations of markets, to help people to find local produce in their communities.
Molly Stepanski is the northeast local food coordinator for Taste the Local Difference.
“Our overall goal is 20 percent of all food sold in Michigan come from Michigan farms and food businesses by 2020. So we work to network farmers and producers in Michigan with farmers markets, retailers, restaurants,” Stepanski said.
Currently, that number is well below five percent.
“Their main mission was to preserve Michigan farmland, and after many years working towards that they realized the best way to do that was to essentially support farmers and producers within Michigan,” she said.
2017’s Northern Michigan Guide to Local Food had a release event Saturday, June 10th at 6pm at Art in the Loft in Alpena.
The online version, as well as pickup locations for the print edition of the guide, can be accessed through the Taste the Local Difference website.
