Cherry Capital Foods Opens Store

Cherry Capital Foods has opened a combination warehouse / grocery store south of Traverse City at 195 US 31 South, about a mile north of Chums Corner. Eric Hahn started Cherry Capital Foods as a distribution business to get local farm products into area restaurants, schools and other businesses. Now with the new store open to the public, anyone can stop by and shop for all local and Michigan produce, meats and food products, or place orders via phone or fax for pick-up at the store or for UPS shipment. Visit the company web site for more information. Also check out Feeding the Demand for Local Goods in today's Traverse City Record-Eagle.

New cooking series at Grand Traverse Resort

The new Cooking Live! series kicks off May 13 at the Grand Traverse Resort & Spa with "Cooking with Morels." Each monthly demo will be approximately 45 minutes long and will feature Executive Chef Ted Cizma and his culinary staff from Aerie Restaurant and Lounge. Other offerings will include Cherry Desserts; Local, Sustainable, Organic; Cooking with Beer; Cooking Wild Game, and more.

Smoothing the way for local foods in schools

Kudos to the Michigan Land Use Institute for spurring action in Lansing to address Michigan's restrictive food rules. Diane Conners reports that a state legislator and the state agricultural commission are each trying to change state bidding requirements that hamper a school's ability to buy significant amounts of foods from local farms. MLUI's Farm to School: Healthy Kids, Thriving Farms conference shone a light on this situation last month, and MLUI further hammered it home in a follow-up essay by Beth Collins.

Eat Red campaign promoting cherries

The Cherry Marketing Institute's "Eat Red" marketing campaign to get cherries into the mainstream is seeing promising results, according to Phil Korson of the Cherry Marketing Institute.

continued→

A Local Food Economy

Check out these thought provokers in support of local economies, including local food economies that encompass buying local seasonal foods. Then buy local. It just makes sense.

continued→

Raclette featured in Freep

The phones are ringing off the hook at the Leelanau Cheese Company after the Detroit Free Press did a story on its aged raclette, It's the best cheese in America. The cheese was judged best in show at last summer's 24th annual American Cheese Society's competition.

Pierogies benefit Historical Society

Fourteen cooks recently gathered to learn how to make pierogies at a fundraiser benefitting the Otsego County Historical Society. Check out the article in the Gaylord Herald Times, which includes a recipe from Rudi and Sandi Edel, who taught the class. The society offers cooking classes from time to time to raise money for museum expenses.

Food for Thought finalist for TC Chamber Award

The honors continue for Food for Thought, an Honor, Michigan-based company that produces award-winning Fair Trade and organic specialty foods. The company is one of 10 finalists for the Traverse City Chamber's 2008 Hagerty Small Business of the Year award announced yesterday. The winner will be announced at a luncheon May 21 at the Hagerty Center on NMC's Great Lakes Campus in Travese City.

continued→

Crain’s picks up Michigan Grapevine

Congratulations to Cari Noga, whose Michigan GrapeVine blog will now appear monthly in Crain's Detroit Business. Based in Traverse City, Michigan, Noga has covered the state's grape and wine industry since 1999.

continued→

Chef’s Compete to Benefit Challenge Mountain

Northern Michigan foodies won't want to miss the inaugural Chef's Challenge at Shanty Creek on April 25-27. Four culinary teams from south of U.S. 10 face off against four teams north of the highway in a cook-off competition reminiscent of the Food Network's Iron Chef. The event, designed to promote Michigan food, wine and microbrew industries, will benefit Challenge Mountain in Walloon Lake. Read more about the event in today's Record-Eagle article written by Cymbre Foster.

Foodies Roundtable

Traverse City Business News publisher Luke Haase recently sat down with owners of four area businesses for the Foodies roundtable. Check out the article about his conversation with Melissa Ewing, Undercover Vegetable Company, Jeff Hughes, Brownwood Farms, Bob Sutherland, Cherry Republic, and Chris Treter, Higher Grounds Trading Company.

New restaurants, new locations in Traverse City

In a bit of musical chair flurry of activity, restaurants in Traverse City are on the move, with a couple newcomers grabbing seats too.

continued→

Edible Grande Traverse

Local foods will soon get another showcase here in northern Michigan. Welcome to Edible Grande Traverse, a quarterly magazine expected to debut this month.

continued→

Michigan Law hampers Farm-to-School Efforts

Michigan limits the amount of money schools can spend on local farm foods, according to an article by Beth Collins, chef and school food service consultant. This obstacle was a hot topic at last week's Farm to School: Healthy Kids, Thriving Farms conference in Traverse City.

continued→