The third annual LPVA Small Plates takes place on Saturday, June 16, from 6-9 p.m. View the pairings below and order tickets by visiting this website. You must order tickets in advance for this event. The event enjoyed a sell-out for the second straight year in 2011, so be sure to order your tickets today.
The Michigan Land Use Institute today published its ninth annual Taste the Local Difference farm and food guide. The latest edition of the free, handy, pocket-sized guide is the largest ever. Its 104 pages list more than 250 local farms; 42 wineries, breweries and distilleries; 30 farmers markets; and 82 retail businesses and food artisans, all located in the 10-county region stretching from Manistee to the Mackinac Bridge.
Here are the 2012 Empire Asparagus Festival poetry contest winners: First place, “Will the real asparagus please stand up” by Marcy Branski; Second place, “Asparagusto!” by Jennifer Weil; Third place, “A spare god” by Mary O’Neill
Don’t miss this weekend’s ninth annual Empire Asparagus Festival, which celebrates the arrival of spring and precedes the official opening of Northern Michigan’s tourism season a week later.
With asparagus spears and rhubarb stalks poking up above the ground, schools throughout northwest Lower Michigan are spending their last weeks of school capping off a big year of celebrating and serving locally grown food. This, in turn, offers a number of opportunities for compelling in-school photos and video of the local Farm to School celebration. These media opportunities include:
Miranda Monroe, a Registered Dietitian and principal of Grand Traverse Nutrition, will share tips for easy and healthy meal preparation using local foods available to everyone in Leelanau County. A series of four, hour-long classes, will be held at the Glen Arbor Athletic Club every other Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
In this video, Leelanau Peninsula Vintners spokesperson Andy McFarlane and Dan Matthies of Chateau Fontaine promote the annual Sip & Savor event, which encourages tasters to visit all wineries in beautiful Leelanau County during the May 5-6 event.
Google insights show an increased interest about Michigan restaurants, wineries and local foods. Several researchers from Michigan State University including Dr. Dan McCole predict that this will lead to a rise in culinary tourism for 2012. This is exciting news for agriculture and culinary destinations such as Black Star Farms that regularly host culinary tourism-based events at their inn and winery tasting rooms.
Aaron Dennis and Jacob Wheeler are in the “Holy Land” to document the Run Across Palestine, a philanthropic venture organized by a team of northern Michiganders who will run 129 miles over five days across the West Bank.
