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Will Allen of Growing Power works with Michigan farmers

More than 40 Michigan farmers recently visited Growing Power, Inc. in Milwaukee on April 13-15, 2007 to learn sustainable agricultural practices to grow, process, market and distribute food, sponsored by Michigan Food & Farming Systems - MIFFS.

Growing Power is a non-profit organization and land trust that helps provide equal access to healthy, high-quality, safe and affordable food through hands-on training, on-the-ground demonstration and outreach and technical assistance.

Will Allen, Growing Power’s founder and executive director, welcomed the group of Michigan farmers and gave a tour and overview of the projects at Growing Power. Participants could engage in a variety of workshops, including: aquaculture/aquaponics, beekeeping, community project design, composting/vermiculture and year-round greenhouse production.

“Every part of the weekend provided something that either reinforced what I knew or added something new to my knowledge base,” said John Kates, who is already getting involved in his Detroit community taking beekeeping classes.

The Growing Power Trip allowed participants to network with each other and with people from around the country during the two-day workshop. Several Michigan producers also discussed with Allen and the Rainbow’s Farmer Cooperative in Milwaukee the possibility of incorporating Michigan produce.

“We do not get much fresh blueberries or asparagus for our cooperative and would love to add those products for our customers,” said Allen, opening the door to Michigan produce and more opportunities for our local farmers.

This trip was sponsored by the MIFFS Multicultural Farmers Program through a USDA Risk Management Agency grant!

We invite you to view and download photos taken during the trip at: http://picasaweb.google.com/MIFFS07/GrowingPower02

You can also view the brochure here for more information about the trip.

This was a great opportunity, and if you participated in this trip, we'd love to hear what you thought! If you have any feedback, please send it to miffs@msu.edu with "Growing Power feedback" in the header.

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