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.
To fulfill the demand for quickly locating and searching documents.
It is intelligent file search solution for home and business.