Angie Carter
Assistant Professor of Environmental and Energy Justice,
Department of Social Sciences, Michigan Tech University
Originally from Iowa, Angie is learning about the food systems of her new home in the Keweenaw Peninsula. She is a rural and environmental sociologist teaching courses at Michigan Tech in environmental justice, food systems & sustainability, and community-based research. She is part of the Western UP Food Systems Council planning team and serves on the board of the Women, Food and Agriculture Network. She has served on the board of Wheatsfield Co-op in Ames, IA and loves to garden, share food, and celebrate local food culture. Her research studies food systems equity and environmental sustainability, local and regional food systems, gender and agriculture, and food systems policy.
Contact: ancarter@mtu.edu
Phil Britton
Food Safety Specialist, Fresh Systems, LLC
Phil Britton took the scenic route into food systems work. After graduating from NMU with a BS in media production, he worked for a medical device manufacturer, then brought his experience in quality management systems into the food world by working on the USDA GroupGAP pilot program. Phil has expanded the USDA GroupGAP program, a collaborative route for smaller farms to achieve food safety certification, throughout Michigan by developing the MI GroupGAP Network. In addition to food safety work, Phil serves on the Marquette Food Co-op’s board of directors, and runs Fresh Systems, LLC, providing systems-based consulting for small farm and food-based organizations. Phil is happy to speak with your group about Food Safety, Internal Systems and Documentation and Cooperative Governance. Contact: phil@freshsystemsllc.com
Parker Jones
Innovation Counselor, Michigan State University Extension
Parker comes from an academic background in environmental systems and work experience that, gradually then quickly, moved him a safe distance from lab protocols and dreaded math. He transitioned from a research lab to a position abroad working in community and economic development with an agroforestry NGO. Now, Parker works as a small business counselor helping, mainly, food and value-added agriculture entrepreneurs launch innovative products into retail spaces. Parker can teach on food business development, cottage food law and the Food Safety Modernization Act Produce Safety Rule. Contact: jonesp28@msu.edu
Sarah Monte
Outreach Director at the Marquette Food Co-op
Central U.P. Lead of the U.P. Food Exchange
Sarah has been spreading the word about good food for more 10 years. A certified teacher with degrees in history and political science, Sarah also has experience with farming, managing farmers markets, marketing, and curriculum development in the health and local food sectors. She loves helping people make connections and find resources in the local food network, so she’d be glad to answer any questions you have. Sarah can teach cooking classes about local food, introduce you to the UPFE online marketplace, and help you navigate the Upper Peninsula’s community food system. Contact: smonte@marquettefood.coop
Brad Neumann, AICP
MSU Senior Extension Educator
Brad serves as an educational resource for local and tribal governments across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in the areas of land use planning and zoning, community and economic development, and leadership and civic engagement. He works with local units of government and speaks regularly on zoning issues related to the Michigan Right to Farm Act and strategies to amend local government regulations and plans to support the rural farm economy and community food system. In recent years, Brad has served on the State of Michigan Urban Livestock Workgroup and the Site Selection Generally Accepted Agricultural and Management Practices (GAAMPs) Committee. He is a member of the UP Food Exchange Policy Committee. Contact: neuman36@msu.edu
Abbey Palmer
Education Coordinator
Michigan State University Upper Peninsula Research and Extension Center
“Eating is an agricultural act,” says Wendell Berry. Abbey has been learning about the connections between food, sustainability, and local economies since 2010, when she began volunteering on a farm after graduating from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She works with people of all ages who are curious about where their food comes from and want to learn more about how it is produced. She is a curator for the Lexicon of Sustainability and a seed saver in the Community Seed Resource Program for Seed Savers Exchange. She hosts on-farm tours at UPREC in Chatham, assists school garden programs, and offers professional development for teachers who want to incorporate agriculture education into their classes.
Contact: palmerab@msu.edu
Alex Palzewicz
U.P. Local Food Coordinator, Taste the Local Difference
Local Food Projects Coordinator, U.P. Food Exchange
Alex’s past has introduced her to almost every corner of the food system. As a child she raised livestock for the Upper Peninsula State Fair, and her days of 4-H and FFA have made her a passionate leader with a strong sense of stewardship. Now, with over 10 years of restaurant experience and a degree in Hospitality Management, she is determined to build local food systems and showcase the nutritional, social, and economic benefits that come from small businesses investing in one another. After spending a few years in Seattle, a place that only fueled her desire to become part of the Farm-to-Table movement, she’s back in hopes of empowering rural areas around Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to benefit from stronger local food systems. Taste the Local Difference has allowed her a unique role in which she works with farmers, farmers markets, retailers, restaurants, and specialty producers to create a diverse network of local businesses that can only benefit from one another’s growth.
Contact: alex@localdifference.org
Dr. Martin Reinhardt, Ph.D.
NMU Professor, Center for Native American Studies
Reinhardt is an Anishinaabe Ojibway citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians from Michigan. He is a tenured professor of Native American Studies at Northern Michigan University, and is currently serving as the interim director of the Center for Native American Studies. He is the president of the Michigan Indian Education Council, and the lead singer and songwriter for the band Waawiyeyaa (The Circle). His current research focuses on revitalizing relationships between humans and Indigenous plants and animals of the Great Lakes Region. He is a former research associate for the Interwest Equity Assistance Center at Colorado State University, and the former vice president for diversity and research for Educational Options, Inc. He has taught courses in American Indian education, tribal law and government, and sociology. He has a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from the Pennsylvania State University, where his doctoral research focused on Indian education and the law with a special focus on treaty educational provisions. Martin serves as a panelist for the National Indian Education Study Technical Review Panel, as the primary investigator for the Decolonizing Diet Project, and as a co-primary investigator for the Indigenous Women Working Within the Sciences (IWWS) Project which is sponsored by the National Science Foundation. He has also served as Chair of the American Association for Higher Education American Indian/Alaska Native Caucus; Co-Primary Investigator for the Michigan Rural Systemic Initiative (which was also sponsored by the National Science Foundation); and as an external advisor for the National Indian School Board Association. He also holds both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Sociology. Contact: mreinhar@nmu.edu
Landen Tetil
Produce Safety Technician, Marquette County Conservation District
From seed corn production to vegetable market gardening, Landen has spent more than a decade participating in local agriculture on Michigan farms. Somewhere in those years of farming, she found time to earn a B.S. in Environmental Studies and Sustainability from NMU, a certificate in Implementing Good Agricultural Practices, and a trainer’s certificate from the Produce Safety Alliance. Her knowledge, experience, and passions eventually lead her to focus in on-farm food safety. These days, she gets to have her cake and eat it too by working on-farm with produce growers all over the Upper Peninsula, promoting food safety practices and helping growers earn a Produce Safety Certificate from the state of Michigan. Landen is happy to answer any questions and work with produce growers of all shapes and sizes. Contact: landen.mqtcondist@gmail.com