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Food Systems Project News and Events
Photo of sunflower in Riddle school garden courtesy of Katie Olender
School Garden-Based Nutrition Education Documentary
on our School Garden-Based Nutrition Education Program!
You can also now make an online donation using Paypal.
Free Summer Garden Camp!
Gardening, cooking, games & crafts – Ages 7+
Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays from 12-3
Where: Cavanaugh Elementary; 300 W Cavanaugh Rd
When: June 14 - June 30;
Where: Mid-Michigan Leadership Academy; 730 W. Maple
When: July 5 – July 21
Where: Willow Elementary; 1012 W. Willow Street
When: July 26 – August 11
Where: Riddle Elementary; 221 Huron St
When: August 16 – September 1
Enrollment is limited to 20 per camp.
Contact Joy Baldwin to enroll @ (517) 999-2894.
New Westside Farmers’ Market
Eat fresh, healthy and local! NWI’s Food Systems
Project will host a farmer’s market on Lansing’s
Westside from July 18th to September 19th.
The market will be open on Mondays from
4:00-7:00 pm in Shanora’s parking lot at
829 W.Saginaw. If you have questions about
the market or would like to volunteer, please
contact Joy at 999-2894; joy@nwlansing.org.
Seeking Community Gardeners
Ever wanted to grow your own food and simply don’t have the land space? The Food Systems
Project will be starting three new community gardens this year and we are seeking 60
individuals interested in manning their own plot. FSP can provide the plants and land, you just
have to show up, keep your plot weeded and watered and bear the fruit of harvest. So if you
want to save money, eat healthy, connect with nature and get some exercise, contact Joy
Baldwin at 999-2894.
Celebrate Your Health!
Are you looking to get fit and feel like you need some support? We offer a variety of fun group
fitness activities that meet weekly and/or monthly.
Celebrate Your Health Club —meets the third Saturday of every month at Trinity Lutheran
Church (501 W. Saginaw) from 9:30 - 11:00 am. Join us for a healthy snack, exercise and
occasional guest speakers on a variety of topics related to women’s health.
Fitness Newbies —Shed some pounds and have fun while doing it! We will meet biweekly for
some physical activities; be it walking, dancing, yoga, biking, laser tag, or ice skating.
For information on upcoming activities, call Stephanie at 999-2894.
Youth Farm Stand/Church Farm Stand Project
Corner Store Produce Project
The Food Systems Project has been partnering with Quality Dairy Stores and local farmers to
bring fresh produce into convenience stores for the past four years.
Quality Dairy has now decided to take ownership over this very important community food
access project. Nine stores in Michigan are now carrying an additional dozen fresh produce
items as a pilot project. The Food Systems Project no longer has to transport the produce as a
result of this expansion, but we are still assisting with marketing, display and are inquiring
about providing recipe cards for each produce item at all nine locations.
In order for this pilot project to be successful, we need YOUR support. If any of the nine
locations are near you, please stop in and pick up some fresh fruits and veggies and let the
staff know that you are excited about the project.
FSP Partnerships
The new Let’s Garden Lansing posters should be in windows all over Lansing late next week.
LGL is a collaborative of area partners that come together to share gardening education
workshops, classes and events. Visit www.letsgardenlansing.org for current listing.
The Youth Gardening Coalition has begun planning the spring Youth Gardening Conference. If
you would like to become involved in planning the conference with a group of garden leaders,
please contact joy@nwlansing.org.
A variety of area partners have come together to form a Food Systems Task Force for the Mid
Michigan area. This is the same growing group that brought you the Growing Our Food System
conference last spring. If you currently work in any of the food sectors (grower, producer, and
distributor) and would like to be a part of the ongoing food system discussion, contact Janine
Sinno at jsinno@ingham.org .
A Fruitful Summer
Summer Garden Camp was a blast this year.
Campers prepared over a dozen healthy recipes,
learned about the food groups, played games,
exercised and tended to their school gardens.
Learning is Fun!
In our years of teaching nutrition education and
fitness, we have learned that play is an
important tool in the learning process. So this
year we decided to try a few new things:
balloons
With all the fun going on, campers didn’t even
realize they were eating healthy and getting
exercise!
Youth Farm Stands
A handful of campers participated in Youth
Farm Stands at the Westside Summer Fest, the
Great Lakes Folk Fest and a Church Farm Stand
at Westminster Church on MLK. Students raised
over $100 to support seeds and plants for next
years gardening season.
Art in the Garden
Campers satisfied their artistic creativity with
an open creation station, as well as hand
painting garden signs for each plant growing in
the school garden. Students at Cavanaugh were
able to help complete the wall mural that
surrounds the garden.
Let's Garden Lansing!
A group of community partners have come together to provide a calendar listing of gardening
education events and workshops throughout the Lansing area. For more information, visit
www.letsgardenlansing.org.
Seeking Volunteers to Teach Nutrition in the Classroom
The Food Systems Project now has 900 students in four Lansing area Elementary schools and
is in desperate need of 44 volunteers to work in our classrooms beginning in January. If you
like working with children, gardening and/or cooking and would like to make a difference in a
child’s life, please contact Joy at (517) 999-2894.
Volunteer opportunities range from 1 hour a month to 10 hours weekly. Volunteer time slots in
the classroom are on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays between the hours of 10am to
4pm. A detailed volunteer description is below. Please forward this message to anyone you
think may be interested in this opportunity.
FSP Welcomes Willow Elementary School (Spring 2010)
The Food Systems Project School Garden Based Nutrition Education program will be adding a
fourth school to our programs this school year. Over 1,000 students at Willow, Cavanaugh and
Riddle Elementary and Mid-Michigan Leadership Academy will be visited monthly and will learn
about nutrition through the use of school gardens. Students prepare healthy food samples on
every visit, and also participate in lots of fun educational activities using fruits and vegetables.
The Riddle Hoophouse is Back (Fall 2009)
After being down for a winter due to vandalism, the Riddle hoop house is back in full force! The
250+ students at Riddle Elementary will now be able to see sprouts spring into life in the
middle of all the ice and snow!
A great thanks goes out to all the volunteers we had helping on the project; we could not have
done it without you! Special thanks go out to the hoop house experts John Biernbaum and
Adam Montri – whose knowledge, expertise and leadership skills are beyond admiration! The
job would have been impossible without the ten sets of hands we had moving and securing the
50 foot plastic sheet of unwieldy plastic, so I would also like to express gratitude to the following
volunteers who made this all possible:
Clyde Baldwin 3, Ramona Spencer, Qosmon Sagataw, Janine Boylan, Shamidah Wyden,
Laymon Risper & Rick Bennett
Mayor Virg Bernero and the Lansing Police Department also deserve recognition for making the
funds available to pay for the repairs and for supplying a security camera and signage. I am
completely astounded by the good will and support of our community.
Channel 10 news and the Lansing State Journal (article) also made it out to support our efforts!
600 School Garden Students Plant Trees to Celebrate Earth Day (2009)
reduction, schoolyard beautification and community service by providing apples for future
generations.
on our School Garden-Based Nutrition Education Program!
You can also now make an online donation using Paypal.
Free Summer Garden Camp!
Gardening, cooking, games & crafts – Ages 7+
Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays from 12-3
Where: Cavanaugh Elementary; 300 W Cavanaugh Rd
When: June 14 - June 30;
Where: Mid-Michigan Leadership Academy; 730 W. Maple
When: July 5 – July 21
Where: Willow Elementary; 1012 W. Willow Street
When: July 26 – August 11
Where: Riddle Elementary; 221 Huron St
When: August 16 – September 1
Enrollment is limited to 20 per camp.
Contact Joy Baldwin to enroll @ (517) 999-2894.
New Westside Farmers’ Market
Eat fresh, healthy and local! NWI’s Food Systems
Project will host a farmer’s market on Lansing’s
Westside from July 18th to September 19th.
The market will be open on Mondays from
4:00-7:00 pm in Shanora’s parking lot at
829 W.Saginaw. If you have questions about
the market or would like to volunteer, please
contact Joy at 999-2894; joy@nwlansing.org.
Seeking Community Gardeners
Ever wanted to grow your own food and simply don’t have the land space? The Food Systems
Project will be starting three new community gardens this year and we are seeking 60
individuals interested in manning their own plot. FSP can provide the plants and land, you just
have to show up, keep your plot weeded and watered and bear the fruit of harvest. So if you
want to save money, eat healthy, connect with nature and get some exercise, contact Joy
Baldwin at 999-2894.
Celebrate Your Health!
Are you looking to get fit and feel like you need some support? We offer a variety of fun group
fitness activities that meet weekly and/or monthly.
Celebrate Your Health Club —meets the third Saturday of every month at Trinity Lutheran
Church (501 W. Saginaw) from 9:30 - 11:00 am. Join us for a healthy snack, exercise and
occasional guest speakers on a variety of topics related to women’s health.
Fitness Newbies —Shed some pounds and have fun while doing it! We will meet biweekly for
some physical activities; be it walking, dancing, yoga, biking, laser tag, or ice skating.
For information on upcoming activities, call Stephanie at 999-2894.
Youth Farm Stand/Church Farm Stand Project
- FSP successfully completed six Youth Farm Stands this
year. The first two farm stands were part of community
festivals (Westside Summer Fest and the Great Lakes Folk
Fest). The Youth Farm Stand Project ran for four additional
weeks, every Sunday in September at Westminster
Presbyterian Church. 9 students total participated in the 6
farm stands (3 to 5 at each stand).
- All produce sold was overstock school garden produce
(tomatoes, green peppers, serranto peppers, jalapeño
peppers, kale, turnip greens, beets, radishes, cucumber,
eggplant, pumpkin, beans). Prices ranged from 10 cents
to $3.00. Students raised $179 to support their school
garden.
- All overstock produce not sold at Sunday’s Youth Farm
Stand was then donated to seniors at Capitol Commons
Senior Apartments. Over a dozen seniors awaited our
weekly donation (about 20 pounds average each week).
Corner Store Produce Project
The Food Systems Project has been partnering with Quality Dairy Stores and local farmers to
bring fresh produce into convenience stores for the past four years.
Quality Dairy has now decided to take ownership over this very important community food
access project. Nine stores in Michigan are now carrying an additional dozen fresh produce
items as a pilot project. The Food Systems Project no longer has to transport the produce as a
result of this expansion, but we are still assisting with marketing, display and are inquiring
about providing recipe cards for each produce item at all nine locations.
In order for this pilot project to be successful, we need YOUR support. If any of the nine
locations are near you, please stop in and pick up some fresh fruits and veggies and let the
staff know that you are excited about the project.
- QD Store 20: 500 E Saginaw Street (Cedar/Saginaw)
QD Store 13: 4500 W. Saginaw (I496)
QD Store 33: 8512 W. Saginaw (Delta)
QD Store 2: 400 S. Pennsylvania
QD Store 31: 1699 W. Grand River & Dobie (Okemos)
QD Store 32: 680 Lansing Road (Charlotte)
QD Store 21: 2121 W. Holmes Rd.
QD Store 23: 118 S. Main St. (Eaton Rapids)
FSP Partnerships
The new Let’s Garden Lansing posters should be in windows all over Lansing late next week.
LGL is a collaborative of area partners that come together to share gardening education
workshops, classes and events. Visit www.letsgardenlansing.org for current listing.
The Youth Gardening Coalition has begun planning the spring Youth Gardening Conference. If
you would like to become involved in planning the conference with a group of garden leaders,
please contact joy@nwlansing.org.
A variety of area partners have come together to form a Food Systems Task Force for the Mid
Michigan area. This is the same growing group that brought you the Growing Our Food System
conference last spring. If you currently work in any of the food sectors (grower, producer, and
distributor) and would like to be a part of the ongoing food system discussion, contact Janine
Sinno at jsinno@ingham.org .
A Fruitful Summer
Summer Garden Camp was a blast this year.
Campers prepared over a dozen healthy recipes,
learned about the food groups, played games,
exercised and tended to their school gardens.
Learning is Fun!
In our years of teaching nutrition education and
fitness, we have learned that play is an
important tool in the learning process. So this
year we decided to try a few new things:
- Dress up tea parties with tea sandwiches in
- Open fruit smoothie bar encouraging
- Water relay races that incorporated putting
balloons
With all the fun going on, campers didn’t even
realize they were eating healthy and getting
exercise!
Youth Farm Stands
A handful of campers participated in Youth
Farm Stands at the Westside Summer Fest, the
Great Lakes Folk Fest and a Church Farm Stand
at Westminster Church on MLK. Students raised
over $100 to support seeds and plants for next
years gardening season.
Art in the Garden
Campers satisfied their artistic creativity with
an open creation station, as well as hand
painting garden signs for each plant growing in
the school garden. Students at Cavanaugh were
able to help complete the wall mural that
surrounds the garden.
Let's Garden Lansing!
A group of community partners have come together to provide a calendar listing of gardening
education events and workshops throughout the Lansing area. For more information, visit
www.letsgardenlansing.org.
Seeking Volunteers to Teach Nutrition in the Classroom
The Food Systems Project now has 900 students in four Lansing area Elementary schools and
is in desperate need of 44 volunteers to work in our classrooms beginning in January. If you
like working with children, gardening and/or cooking and would like to make a difference in a
child’s life, please contact Joy at (517) 999-2894.
Volunteer opportunities range from 1 hour a month to 10 hours weekly. Volunteer time slots in
the classroom are on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays between the hours of 10am to
4pm. A detailed volunteer description is below. Please forward this message to anyone you
think may be interested in this opportunity.
FSP Welcomes Willow Elementary School (Spring 2010)
The Food Systems Project School Garden Based Nutrition Education program will be adding a
fourth school to our programs this school year. Over 1,000 students at Willow, Cavanaugh and
Riddle Elementary and Mid-Michigan Leadership Academy will be visited monthly and will learn
about nutrition through the use of school gardens. Students prepare healthy food samples on
every visit, and also participate in lots of fun educational activities using fruits and vegetables.
The Riddle Hoophouse is Back (Fall 2009)
After being down for a winter due to vandalism, the Riddle hoop house is back in full force! The
250+ students at Riddle Elementary will now be able to see sprouts spring into life in the
middle of all the ice and snow!
A great thanks goes out to all the volunteers we had helping on the project; we could not have
done it without you! Special thanks go out to the hoop house experts John Biernbaum and
Adam Montri – whose knowledge, expertise and leadership skills are beyond admiration! The
job would have been impossible without the ten sets of hands we had moving and securing the
50 foot plastic sheet of unwieldy plastic, so I would also like to express gratitude to the following
volunteers who made this all possible:
Clyde Baldwin 3, Ramona Spencer, Qosmon Sagataw, Janine Boylan, Shamidah Wyden,
Laymon Risper & Rick Bennett
Mayor Virg Bernero and the Lansing Police Department also deserve recognition for making the
funds available to pay for the repairs and for supplying a security camera and signage. I am
completely astounded by the good will and support of our community.
Channel 10 news and the Lansing State Journal (article) also made it out to support our efforts!
600 School Garden Students Plant Trees to Celebrate Earth Day (2009)
- Six hundred Lansing students celebrated Earth Day in April by
planting trees at their schools to improve local air and water
quality. The event was sponsored by the NorthWest Initiative Food
Systems Project which teaches nutrition education through
gardening at three elementary schools in Lansing. To
commemorate Michigan’s state flower, the apple blossom, Red
Delicious Apple trees were included in the planting.
reduction, schoolyard beautification and community service by providing apples for future
generations.
| NorthWest Initiative - North Neighborhood Center 530 W. Ionia St., Suite D, Lansing, MI 48933 Phone: 517-999-2894 Fax: 517-999-2897 |
