Www.canr.msu.edu



[pic] | |

| | | |

|Saginaw County | |

|Saginaw County Extension |P: 989-758-2500 |E-mail: msue.saginaw@county.msu.edu |

|One Tuscola Street, Suite 100 |F: 989-758-2509 | |

|Saginaw, MI 48607 | | |

| |Fall 2007 |

|Youth Farm Stand Project aimed at supporting Saginaw County nutrition, education |To kickoff the project, MSU Extension and the Houghton-Jones Resource Center |

|and economy |unveiled a mural at 1700 Janes Avenue, now a church annex that ironically was |

| |once a grocery store. |

|The Michigan Youth Farm Stand Project gives inner city young people the chance to |The vivid mural depicts fresh-picked produce young, urban farmers reading to |

|plan, develop and manage a farm stand while they learn organization, teamwork and |children and a girl selling vegetables at a farm stand. |

|responsibility. |The mural titled, “Healthy Community Partners,” bears the logos of the |

|An initiative of the C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems at MSU, the |agencies that made the project possible imposed in the rainbow that stretches |

|project will help youngsters in Saginaw’s Houghton-Jones neighborhood explore the |the length of the mural. It is the design of local freelance artist Danny |

|value of fresh fruit and vegetables and the importance of making healthy food |Davis, a GM retiree. |

|choices while sharing what they’ve learned with their neighbors. | |

|The farm stand project was piloted two years ago in Kalkaska and Wayne counties |Contact: Deanna East, |

|and then expanded to several other parts of Michigan. Saginaw County MSU Extension|Family and Consumer Sciences Educator |

|is working with the Houghton-Jones Resource Center to implement this project in |eastd@msu.edu or 989-758-2500, ext. 214 |

|Saginaw County. | |

|This winter, youth in the Houghton-Jones neighborhood will learn about running a | |

|small business, good nutrition and the basics of gardening. Planting will begin |[pic] |

|in spring. During the summer, the youths plan to sell produce at a stand on at |A mural celebrating the farm stand project was recently unveiled at 1700 Janes|

|the garden site two days a week and at the local farmers’ market two days a week. |Avenue. |

| | |

|The project also supports the local family economy and helps financially strapped | |

|families in economically depressed communities get access to nutritious produce. | |

|According to the Michigan Land Use Institute, a 10 percent increase in the | |

|purchase of locally grown produce would put $730 million into the state’s economy | |

|to support farms, increase related jobs, and improve rural and urban quality of | |

|life. | |

| | | |

|[pic] |Michigan State University Extension helps people improve their lives through an educational process |[pic] |

| |that applies knowledge to critical issues, needs and opportunities. Offices in counties across the | |

| |state link the research of the land-grant university, MSU, to challenges facing communities. | |

| |Citizens serving on county Extension councils regularly help select focus areas for programming.  | |

| |MSU Extension is funded jointly by county boards of commissioners, the state through Michigan State | |

| |University and federally through the US Department of Agriculture. | |

| | |

|MSU helps link farmers to future in bioeconomy | 4-H helps Birch Run students learn financial management |

| | |

|The search for alternatives to fossil fuels is on and plants like switchgrass, |Birch Run High School students are learning more than history, English and |

|miscanthus and forage sorghum are showing potential as raw materials for pelleted |science this fall, they’re also exploring banking, investing and saving money,|

|fuels or cellulosic ethanol production. |thanks to science teacher Jan Pollard and MSU Extension 4-H staff members Jan |

|The potential for Michigan farmers to add more crop options to their operations |Wendland and Kim Towne. |

|and subsequently reap financial rewards by making significant developments in this|All three took part in National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) |

|industry are huge. |program training from the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) to learn to|

|About 400 gallons of ethanol can be produced from one acre of corn grain, but a |educate young people in personal financial management. |

|Michigan Agriculture Experiment Station researcher estimates that about 1,000 |Unit topics specifically targeted to the high school audience include |

|gallons of ethanol could be made from an acre of switchgrass. |financial planning, budgeting, investing, debt management, money management, |

|The Saginaw Bay Watershed Initiative Network has funded a project to establish two|insurance and career choices. |

|demonstration trials with switchgrass, miscanthus and forage sorghum during the |With Pollard’s guidance, 20 Birch Run students with two common |

|2008 growing season.  |goals--graduation and preparation for the workforce--are working on various |

|The trials will be located in Saginaw and Isabella counties. In Saginaw County, |entrepreneurial projects. These projects include recycling used vegetable oils|

|the study will be conducted at the MSU Bean and Beet Research Farm located on Swan|into diesel fuel for local school buses, beekeeping, establishing a greenhouse|

|Creek Road. |to produce and sell vegetable and bedding plants and composting soil using red|

| |wiggler worms to break down organic material into nitrogen rich potting soil. |

| | |

|Seamon named bioeconomy counselor |Extension 4-H program associate Wendland works with Birch Run and other |

| |participating schools to connect them with a wealth of resources and education|

|Saginaw County MSU Extension educator Mark Seamon has been named the statewide |in support of their entrepreneurial programs. |

|bioeconomy innovation counselor for the MSU Product Center, effective January 1, |NEFE-CUNA collaborates with the USDA’s Cooperative State Research, Education |

|2008. |and Extension Service (CSREES), several states’ Cooperative Extension Services|

|In this role he will connect farmers and other entrepreneurs who are looking at |and credit unions across the country to offer this educational opportunity. |

|opportunities in the bioeconomy field with research and education at MSU. He will | |

|be based at the Saginaw County MSU Extension office. |Contact: Kim Towne, 4-H Educator |

|A new field crops educator for Saginaw County will be hired to meet local needs. |townek@msu.edu |

|This new educator will also work with farmers Genesee and Shiawassee counties. |Or Jan Wendland, Program Associate, 4H |

| |wendlan2@msu.edu |

| |Both at 989-758-2500 |

|Contact: Mark Seamon, Agriculture Educator | |

|seamonm@msu.edu or 989-758-2500, ext. 203 | |

| |

|MSU is an affirmative-action, equal-opportunity employer. Michigan State University Extension programs and materials are open to all without regard to race, |

|color, national origin, gender, gender identity, religion, age, height, weight, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, marital status, family status |

|or veteran status. |

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download