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.
The Bay Area Transit Authority, which serves Leelanau and Grand Traverse Counties, is launching a huge makeover and backing away from its traditional, often slow, door-to-door dial-a-ride service in favor of many more direct, “fixed” routes that operate on tightly defined schedules.
The Michigan Land Use Institute and its transit partners have published an attractive brochure listing all bus routes connecting Traverse City with six surrounding counties. It lists exact times and locales for boarding buses serving dozens of cities and villages.
The Michigan Land Use Institute has announced that tickets to the annual Taste the Local Difference Summer Celebration are now on sale. The Celebration, in its third year, is one of the region’s premier local food and farm events.
The Michigan Land Use Institute today published its eighth annual Taste the Local Difference farm and food guide and launched its brand-new “Spend Ten Local Dollars” campaign, which urges Northwest Lower Michigan residents to pledge to buy local grown food products every week.
Northern Michigan legislator Ray Franz, who often talked about repealing a Michigan law requiring that 10 percent of the state’s energy come from renewable sources tells the Michigan Land Use Institute he will no longer pursue the matter.
Michigan Land Use Institute: A proposal by the nation’s largest energy company to erect more than 100 utility-scale wind turbines in Benzie and Manistee Counties holds the promise for an economic boost to the rural region, experts say, and will further the state’s efforts to become a leader in the nation’s emerging clean energy sector.
On Sunday, Jan. 9, a team of American runners (most with northern Michigan roots) will leave the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on a 250-mile run. For 10 days they’ll jog through the ancient Rift Valley, sleep in highland villages and raise awareness with folks back home about rural poverty and lack of schools. Ten marathons in ten days! On Jan. 20 they’ll arrive in Yirgacheffe, one of the world’s great coffee-growing regions.
The Michigan Land Use Institute works on bold solutions for Michigan’s people and places. This documentary calls on the people touched by the work the Institute does in the areas of thriving communities, local food & farming, energy & environment. The MLUI is a model for any community striving toward sustainability and a prosperous new economy.
In January, a contingent of northern Michiganders will run 250 miles across Ethiopia, from the capital, Addis Ababa, to the Yirgachefe coffee growing region in the southern part of the ancient East African nation, as part of a campaign to generate awareness and raise $100,000 for local education projects, including the construction of much-needed schools in coffee-harvesting communities.