Local, Healthy Food’s Growing Support Told In Video Series Debuting July 1

Farmers, Food Consumers Document What Sustainability Means To Michigan

Media Contact: Gail Philbin, gail.philbin@sierraclub.org, 312-493-2384

Lansing, Mich.— As farmers markets kick into high gear this month, Michigan food consumers and farmers are voicing support for locally grown food and sustainable agriculture in Michigan and putting it into their own words and stories in a new video series debuting July 1, available at www.youtube.com/MoreForMichigan/Videos.

Michiganders from all walks of life discuss why meat, dairy, poultry and eggs that are locally grown under humane conditions are important to them, their communities and local economies in a series of one-minute video testimonials produced by the  Less=More sustainable agriculture coalition. The coalition is also asking people to contribute their own food stories to the series.  For more information on submitting a testimonial, email: Moreformichigansc@gmail.com

Jill Johnson and Mary Wills of Crane Dance Farm in Middleville will kick off the series with the release of their testimonial via Less=More’s Twitter account, @MoreforMichigan, and on its Facebook page. Jill, who studied agriculture in college, says "What I learned about our food system scared me and I knew at that point that if I was going to eat, I probably had to grow food. It's been a long journey to Crane Dance Farm."
Mary adds, "We've seen so many small farms go under because nobody subsidizes us. It's really very hard to be able to do what we do ….Less=More is vital for the voice of the small farmer."

Crane Dance Farm is a member of Less=More, a sustainable agriculture coalition tackling the inequity of the subsidy system that favors polluting factory farms over safe, sustainable livestock farms at the expense of the environment and public health. In 2013, the coalition released a report, Restoring the Balance to Michigan’s Farming Landscape, that explores the relationship between Farm Bill subsidies and factory farm pollution in Michigan. To download Restoring the Balance, visit: .http://tinyurl.com/L-Mreport. 

The number of farmers markets in Michigan has grown from around 90 in 2001 to more than 300 today, according to the Michigan Farmer’s Market Association’s website. This proliferation of markets as well as Community Supported Agriculture farms (CSAs) in Michigan is evidence of a growing demand from consumers for locally grown, healthy food.

And the passionate response of consumers and farmers to the Less=More testimonial series indicates that buying local food isn’t a passing fad. Western Michigan University student Erin Denay, the series’ producer, has been collecting farmer and consumer videos throughout the month of June during trips to farmers markets and other locations in Frankenmuth, Kalamazoo, Boyne City, Lansing, Grand Rapids and other Michigan communities.

“I am so happy to be part of the Less=More campaign,” says Denay, a senior majoring in environmental and sustainability studies. “I have learned so much about the support that small-scale sustainable farmers need. Particularly, it has made me more appreciative of the local farmers where I live who share my values and help give me more choices as a consumer."

At the Kalamazoo Farmer’s Market, Denay captured the thoughts of  several consumers and farmers, including Joseph Battistella of Sunshine Silo Farm, who says, "Smaller farmers are used to doing what they can with what they have so any sort of help like tax dollars can go a very long way on a small farm.” See the full Sunshine Silo Farm testimonial here: http://youtu.be/QH83tD8s07c

Less=More is comprised of national, state and local organizations and farmers, including: Beery Farms of Michigan, LLC, the Center for Food Safety, Crane Dance Farm, LLC, ELFCO Food Cooperative, Environmentally Concerned Citizens of South Central Michigan, Food & Water Watch, Greater Grand Rapids Food Systems Council, Groundswell Farm, Zeeland, Humane Society of the United States, Michigan Small Farm Council, Michigan Student Sustainability Coalition, Michigan Voices for Good Food Policy, Michigan Young Farmers Coalition, Sierra Club Michigan Chapter and Socially Responsible Agricultural Project. 

Less=More is made possible in part by support from the Irwin Andrew Porter Foundation.

Less support for polluting factory farms means a more sustainable Michigan.  For more information, visit, www.MoreforMichigan.org.   

Sierra Club launches sustainable agriculture testimonials, Western Michigan University student project

By Rosemary Parker | rparker3@mlive.com 
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on June 26, 2014 at 8:54 AM, updated June 26, 2014 at 8:57 AM

KALAMAZOO, MI -- How do Michigan farmers and consumers feel about food from local farmers?

Since last month Erin Denay has been posing that question at farmers markets across the state to create enough video snippets to roll out one a day during the  month of July, part of a collaborative project with Sierra Club, said Gail Philbin, assistant director of the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter.

"We really want consumers and farmers already involved in the sustainable agriculture  scene to understand there are people supporting them," said Denay, 22, of Bay City. She is a senior at Western Michigan University majoring in environmental and sustainability studies and organizational communication.

Sustainable agriculture, she said, is farming that "revolves around the well-being of the surrounding environment, people, and animals while producing healthy, high-quality food that protects the quality of the land and water for future generations.

In the series of one-minute video testimonials produced by the Less=More sustainable agriculture coalition, Michigan residents talk about why meat, dairy, poultry and eggs that are locally grown under humane conditions are important to them, their communities and local economies, a news release from Sierra Club said.

"Sustainable agriculture is farming that revolves around the well-being of the surrounding environment, people, and animals," Denay said, " so as to produce healthy, high-quality food that protects the quality of the land and water for future generations."

"We want them to know we are here for them," Denay said, "and to draw more attention and tax dollars to them," the farms practicing sustainable agriculture methods.

Maynard Beery of Beery Farms in Middleville, for instance, told Denay that though he could not keep up with soaring demand for his grass fed beef "there is no way that I can compete with a 50,000 animal feedlot. They're happy if they wind up with $10 a head in profit and no, that's not going to support myself and my son."

Farm subsidies for which he  currently does not qualify would allow his farm to expand, he said.

The project also hopes to let people know there are 300 farmers markets in Michigan, and lots of choices when it comes to shopping for food. "We want to illuminate the opportunities to eat local, sustainable healthy food," Denay said.

What were the most promising findings of Denay's interviews?

"The appetite, pardon the pun, for local, healthy food is alive and well in Michigan," Philbin said.

The series kicks off July 1 with the release of the testimonial of Jill Johnson and Mary Wills of Crane Dance Farm in Middleville via Less=More's Twitter account, @MoreforMichigan, and its Facebook page.

The remainder of that week the videos feature Kalamazoo farmers and consumers, Denay said.

"Being involved with this project has made me so much more aware of the healthy, high-quality food that is being made available by small-scale sustainable farmers in Michigan communities," Denay said. "I want this testimonial series to really highlight the wonderful things they are doing and why they deserve our support so they can succeed and grow and continue to provide for their communities."

Sierra Club believes issues such as antibiotic overuse, the viability of local economies,  climate change, fair wages and working conditions for workers and animal welfare can be traced back to how food is grown.

"Many consumers are searching for a way to have some control over the food they eat because they are disillusioned or disgusted with the industrial food system," she said. "Growing your own food or buying from local farmers they know is a good way to do that."

Sierra Club is a member of the Less=More Coalition, producers of the video series. The group is made up of national, state and local organizations as well as consumers and farmers who support sustainable agriculture and seek to level the playing field for sustainable livestock farmers.

Specifically, the coalition is tackling inequities in the subsidy system that the coalition argues is weighted toward concentrated livestock operations.

In 2013, the coalition's report "Restoring the Balance to Michigan's Farming Landscape" noted that some farms continue to receive taxpayer-funded subsidies even when they have been fined for violations of environmental law and blasted the farm subsidy system for favoring concentrated animal feeding operations in the award of funds.

Less=More members include: Beery Farms of Michigan, LLC, the Center for Food Safety, Crane Dance Farm, LLC, ELFCO Food Cooperative, Environmentally Concerned Citizens of South Central Michigan, Food & Water Watch, Greater Grand Rapids Food Systems Council, Groundswell Farm, Zeeland, Humane Society of the United States, Michigan Farmers Union, Michigan Small Farm Council, Michigan Student Sustainability Coalition, Michigan Voices for Good Food Policy, Michigan Young Farmers Coalition, Sierra Club Michigan Chapter and Socially Responsible Agricultural Project.

The coalition is also asking people to contribute their own food stories to the series. For more information on submitting a testimonial, email:Moreformichigansc@gmail.com