Food Forest and Food jobs on Beaver Island?

[Nathan Ayers]

Wondering if anyone had heard the recent news of this public food forest in Seattle?

http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/cities/ ... orest/2135

There is a lot of economic development happening in cities and towns producing their own food, and the corresponding businesses in added value products. Once a community decides they want fresh, local, organic food, these are jobs that can't be outsourced or shipped away.

I know Heidi Vigil, Bob Evans and a lot of other folks are paving the way, doing wonderful work with the farmers market and other projects. This is really exciting. I read recently that the USDA has a lot of money/grants for new organic farms and equipment in Michigan.

So I wonder, could Beaver Island produce ALL its own food and energy?

[Nathan Ayers]

USDA EQIP program:

Money to start a new organic farm as well as many other programs for rural agriculture/conservation:

http://www.mi.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/eqip.html