College of Agriculture & Natural Resources



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|Grand Traverse County | |

|Grand Traverse County Extension |P: (231) 922-4620 |E-mail: msue28@msu.edu |

|520 W Front St, |F: (231) 922-4633 |Web: msue.msu.edu/Grandtraverse |

|Traverse City, MI 49684-2208 | | |

| |November 2005 |

|Junior Master Gardeners learn and grow |MSU Extension helps area seniors get FRESH |

| |Grand Traverse County senior citizens and farmers benefited from this summer’s|

|Elementary school students from five Traverse City area public schools have made |Project FRESH (the Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program). |

|big community contributions, thanks to an innovative partnership between the |The county was a pilot site for Senior Project FRESH, which gives low-income |

|JCPenney Afterschool Fund, the Michigan 4-H Foundation and MSU Extension. |senior citizens the chance to sign up for nutrition education and receive |

|The program that was developed, called 4-H Junior Master Gardener, involved adult|coupons that they can use to purchase locally grown produce at area farmers’ |

|Master Gardener volunteers, 4-H leaders and third through fifth graders in |markets. |

|“hands-on” experiences that promoted a love of gardening, an appreciation for the|Thanks to support from community funds, 75 seniors took part in the program. |

|environment and other learning. |“I got a bushel of peaches and canned them”, said one senior participant. |

|Children had the opportunity to explore their world through meaningful activities|“Can I still get coupons?” said another who had missed out on the signup. |

|that strengthened academic achievement, encouraged leadership development, |“Will you have this again next year?” |

|personal pride, responsibility and community involvement. |The Family Nutrition Program will work to increase the number of seniors who |

|Master Gardener volunteers worked with the students in their school gardens |participate in Project FRESH next year. |

|planting, diagnosing pests problems and managing plants. One group built a worm |The program also benefits farmers who sell produce at the farmers’ markets. |

|bin and the children learned how worms help the soil. Another group started herbs|The coupon redemption rates are still being tallied, but last year the Project|

|from seed that the students took home to plant in their families’ gardens. |FRESH program aimed at low-income families brought more than $10,000 in income|

|The Junior Master Gardener program promotes service learning and rewards |to growers. |

|participating students with certification. Each young gardener who completes 10 | |

|hours of volunteer service becomes a certified 4-H Junior Master Gardener. All | |

|of the young people at all five schools reached this goal. | |

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

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|Wine Marketing in Michigan |Farmers get help sorting out regulations in new on-farm fuel storage bulletin |

|Due to a recent United States Supreme Court ruling, the State of Michigan was |Farmers moving or installing fuel storage tanks can get information on the |

|required to change the regulations concerning the sale and shipment of wines from|regulations and water quality risks in a new MSU Extension bulletin titled |

|out-of-state wineries to Michigan residents. Remarkably, the first legislation to|“On-Farm Fuel Storage,” (WQ 59). |

|be introduced actually proposed to shut down all direct shipping of wines to |This easy-to-use bulletin focuses on tanks with capacities of 1,100 gallons or|

|consumers -- into, within, and out of the state. Eventually a much toned-down |less. It contains many color pictures to help producers learn how to comply |

|version, House Bill 4959, passed the House on August 31, 2005. |with new state and federal fuel storage regulations. |

|It is now up to the Senate to consider the matter. If no significant changes in |Producers who installed tanks under 1992 regulations and are grandfathered in |

|this bill are made by the Senate and it is approved by the Governor, it will |under the 2003 regulations can use the bulletin to check to see if they are in|

|create significant impacts to the numerous small wineries in the Grand Traverse |compliance with the 1992 Flammable and Combustible Liquids regulations. |

|region. The effects wouldn’t end in the winery– there will be ramifications to |Those who are interested in installing tanks with capacities greater than |

|local restaurants, tourism-based businesses and farmland preservation efforts. |1,100 gallons will also get information on beginning the process for preparing|

|The current regulations allow wineries to directly supply restaurants with any of|a site plan for review and registration. |

|their labeled wine products. If a restaurant wishes to offer dining customers |The bulletin was written by Roberta L. Dow, MSU Extension district water |

|some of the very high quality local wines which are produced in limited |quality educator, and was funded by MSU’s Water Quality Area of Expertise team|

|quantities, they can obtain them directly from the nearby local wineries, with |and grant from Project GREEEN, the state’s plant industry initiative at MSU. |

|very prompt delivery. This promotes business at local restaurants because they |It is available at county Extension offices and may be downloaded for free |

|can feature these wines, and helps build the reputation and sales of local |from the MSU Extension bulletin web site: |

|wineries from both local and tourist consumers. |“I very much appreciated Roberta Dow’s help when we were preparing for the |

|HB4959 removes the ability of Michigan wineries to ship directly to restaurants. |Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program verification. The fuel |

|Restaurants would only be able to serve a Michigan wine if it was supplied to |storage recommendations were tricky, and with Roberta’s help, we were able to |

|them by a licensed distributor. Distributors would not be likely or able to stock|comply without unnecessary expense” said Tom Brodhagen of Leelanau County’s |

|the specialty wines produced in small quantities, and there would also likely be |Maple Ridge Orchards. |

|significantly longer delays in obtaining special orders than if the nearby winery| |

|could deliver the bottles themselves. | |

|HB4959 would weaken the link between local wineries and the consumer by limiting | |

|exposure of local wines in restaurants. It has the potential to stall the growth | |

|of the size and reputation of the Michigan wine industry, one of the leading | |

|bright spots in profitable agriculture in the state. | |

|In order to help growers, citizens and others in the industry better understand | |

|these issues, Michigan State University Extension will continue to provide | |

|current information about this and other public policy issues. For additional | |

|information please contact your local Extension office or if you wish to become | |

|involved, please contact your local Michigan Senator. | |

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

|color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, marital status, or family status. Issued in furtherance of |

|MSU Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Thomas G. Coon, Extension Director, Michigan State |

|University, E. Lansing, MI 48824 |

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Natural Resource Stewardship & Land Use Planning

Economic Well-being of the Community through Job

Creation and Sustainable Agriculture

Child & Family Education

Reduce Poverty in the Community

Community Collaboration & Resource Utilization

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