Posts By Marissa Gawel
School Food Slop Recovery Program Results in Animal Feed Opportunity for Local Farm
December 21, 2015 | Marissa Gawel
Chickens on Lord and Lady Farm. Courtesy of Laura Cavendish, co-owner of Lord and Lady Farm
At a farm in Northport, Michigan livestock are feasting on a diversity of food scraps every day. One day it might be salad remnants and pizza crusts, another day it might be leftover soup.
That’s because a nearby public school has instituted a food recovery program in which all leftover food scraps are diverted to feed chickens and pigs at a local area farm. Food waste, or as local livestock farmer Laura Cavendish of Lord and Lady Farm calls it, “school food slop,” that once headed to a landfill is now recycled back into the food chain as animal feed.
Michigan Community Kitchen ‘Can-do’ as Independent Nonprofit
December 9, 2015 | Marissa Gawel
Photo courtesy of Can-Do Kitchen (Lucy Dilley). Silvana Russell of Brazilian Oven–one of the businesses in the Can-Do Kitchen–doing a demo event.
What began in 2008 as a traveling “kitchen-trailer” is now a thriving food business incubator set to launch an independent enterprise.
Seven years ago, Kalamazoo, Michigan-based Can-Do Kitchen moved into a custom-designed 1,400 square foot facility. The organization recently announced its separation from parent organization Fair Food Matters to become an independent 501(c)3 non-profit.
The status change isn’t Can-Do Kitchen’s only new development; it also plans to move into a property next year. Program manager Lucy Dilley says the organization is hoping to use the space to expand its offerings to individuals interested in pursuing culinary careers. The incubator, in addition to licensed commercial facilities, offers business consulting, packaging and labeling resources, workshops, and connections to wholesale food distributors. Read More