New Good Food guides help Michigan institutions transform food purchasing into local impact

Resources give schools, hospitals, other institutions practical tools to strengthen local food purchasing, engage policymakers, support local farmers

LANSING, Mich. — From a Michigan farm to a school cafeteria, hospital kitchen or community dining table, every meal is the final step in a much larger food system, and every purchasing decision can help shape what that system looks like.

During National Farm to School Month and National School Lunch Week, Oct. 12-16, Good Food for Michigan is highlighting that opportunity with two new guides designed to help institutions put more Michigan-grown and Michigan-produced food on the table while strengthening the farmers, food businesses and communities behind it.

The Good Food Operators’ Field Guide and the Guide to Hosting Policymaker Site Visits give schools, hospitals and other institutions practical tools to increase the impact of their food purchasing, learn from others doing the work and demonstrate the value of local food to policymakers and community leaders.

“A school lunch is more than a meal — it can be an investment in Michigan agriculture, businesses and students,” said Tim Boring, director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD). “Every institution has an opportunity to look at its food purchasing differently, and these guides are designed to help them figure out where to start.”

The resources come at a time when institutions across Michigan are increasingly looking at the ways food purchases can support more people.

Dearborn Public Schools, the third-largest school district in the state, is one example. Serving more than 20,000 students at more than 30 sites and providing more than 3 million meals each year, the district is using support from the Good Food for Michigan Project to increase Michigan-grown and Michigan-produced food in its meal programs and strengthen relationships with farmers and food suppliers.

When schools, hospitals and other large institutions purchase Michigan-grown food, the impact can extend well beyond the plate. Institutional purchases can create dependable markets for farmers and food businesses, keep food dollars circulating in Michigan communities and connect students, patients and other community members with the people who grow and produce their food.

National School Lunch Week provides a timely opportunity to highlight those connections. School meals are an essential part of the school day for millions of children, while National Farm to School Month celebrates the relationships among students, schools, farmers and local food systems.

The Good Food Operators Field Guide is a living collection of best practices, strategies and lessons from institutions working to make their food purchasing more impactful. It offers practical ideas that institutions can adapt to their own goals, budgets and communities—from purchasing more Michigan-grown food to finding ways to support workers, local economies, environmental sustainability, animal welfare and community health.

The Field Guide is intended for all institutions interested in advancing Good Food Purchasing, whether or not they participate in the Good Food Purchasing Program. It also draws on the experience of the broader Good Food Operators network, encouraging institutions to share what works, learn from each other and contribute new ideas as the resource continues to grow.

The second resource tackles a different, but complementary, piece of the work: making the case for Good Food directly to policymakers. The Guide to Hosting Policymaker Site Visits gives institutions a roadmap for inviting elected officials and other decision-makers into their kitchens, cafeterias, farms and communities to see local food purchasing in action.

“The path to building a stronger local food system doesn’t have one map – institutions can learn a lot from each other,” said Lindsey Scalera, assistant director of Policy Leadership Education at the Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems. “These guides are intended to help schools, hospitals and other institutions take practical steps to buy more locally grown food, learn from each other and show that investing in Michigan’s food system benefits communities across our state.”

A conversation about local food purchasing can be valuable and seeing the work firsthand can help bring its impact to life. Site visits give institutions an opportunity to showcase their progress. They also can introduce policymakers to the farmers, food producers and workers behind the food and build relationships that can help advance stronger food systems.

Together, the guides reflect a central idea behind Good Food for Michigan: Institutions feed thousands and also are powerful participants in the food system.

“Michigan has an incredible network of farmers, food producers, institutions and community leaders who are already doing this work,” said Melanie Tran, the Michigan impact manager at the Center for Good Food Purchasing. “We want to make it easier for more people to learn from what’s happening across the state, try new approaches and build on each other’s successes.”

Good Food for Michigan is a collaborative effort of MDARD, the Center for Good Food Purchasing and the MSU Center for Regional Food Systems. The project supports schools, hospitals and other institutions to purchase more food grown and produced in Michigan while advancing a food system that is healthy, fair, sustainable, humane, local and accessible.

The Good Food Operators Field Guide and the Guide to Hosting Policymaker Site Visits are available on the Good Food for Michigan website.

Institutions interested in using the new guides, have questions or need assistance can connect with Good Food for Michigan through monthly office hours, upcoming events and through one-on-one technical assistance. The project team can help institutions identify strategies that fit their goals, develop a plan and take the next step toward putting more Good Food on the table.