MSU Releases New Michigan Good Food Charter
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EmailThe newly released 2022 Michigan Good Food Charter is a guide for creating and sustaining good food systems rooted in local communities.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MSU releases new Charter for a Michigan food economy that promotes equity, health, and sustainability
Contact: Lindsey Scalera | ScaleraL@msu.edu | 517-353-3500
East Lansing, MI | Recommendations from over 150 organizations from Michigan agriculture, food, health, education, business, and governmental sectors have informed a newly released 2022 Michigan Good Food Charter (Charter). The Charter is a guide for creating and sustaining good food systems rooted in local communities. The 2022 Charter outlines six goals, six strategies, and 22 action recommendations to achieve a good food system.
Food systems connect the food we eat, the people who produce that food, and the ecosystems and resources that make agriculture possible. The 2022 Charter focuses on Michigan's local and regional food systems. Its updated description of a “good food system” is a system that is accessible, equitable, fair, healthy, diverse, and sustainable.
Coordinator of the Charter initiative, Lindsey Scalera says, “The guidance and feedback from the nearly 500 individuals and 150 organizations who participated were the heart of the update process. This is a shared vision for Michigan’s food systems to ensure food is accessible to everyone, promote healthy communities, use fair and sustainable production methods, and support a diverse and equitable society.”
As a tool to help advocates address complex food systems challenges through strategic, coordinated policy action, the Charter can help to:
- identify gaps in existing policies and initiatives;
- determine where policy resources and funding can have the most impact and spur transformative change; and
- help the communities most impacted by food systems challenges to garner their collective power to influence policy change.
Other major updates include the Charter’s goals and strategies. The goals describe the results that stakeholders want to see in Michigan’s communities:
- Food access to food sovereignty
- Farm and food business viability
- Health equity
- Fair wages and economic opportunity
- Sustainable ecosystems
- Climate change mitigation and resilience
Initially published in 2010, the original Michigan Good Food Charter helped build momentum for food systems efforts across the state. Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems coordinated the multi-year collaborative effort to gather the recommendations that informed the 2022 updates.
Read the 2022 Michigan Good Food Charter on MSU Center for Regional Food System’s website and sign up to receive Michigan Good Food Charter updates, including upcoming opportunities to nominate individuals for the Michigan Good Food Charter council and sign a resolution of support. Anyone can register for a webinar on August 19, 2022 that will explore the updated Charter and ways to get involved. Funding for this work was provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
The Michigan Good Food initiative is a statewide effort to promote, implement, and track progress toward the Michigan Good Food Charter goals. The initiative is coordinated by the MSU Center for Regional Food Systems (CRFS) and guided by a coalition of partners. Learn more at michiganfood.org.
The Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems advances regionally-rooted food systems through applied research, education, and outreach. We do this by uniting the knowledge and experience of diverse stakeholders with that of MSU faculty and staff. Our work fosters a thriving economy, equity, and sustainability for Michigan, the nation, and the planet by advancing systems that produce food that is healthy, green, fair, and affordable. Learn more at foodsystems.msu.edu.
