2013-2014 Ruth Mott Urban Agriculture/Local Food Systems Grant Report November 28, 2014
The City of Flint and Genesee County are communities in significant need of activity that can support economic
opportunities for low-income individuals, access to healthy foods, and innovative models and ideas around land
use and community vitality. With high levels of obesity, limited access to healthy food and abundant available
vacant land in Flint, the launching point for all local food efforts is improving access to healthy food, land,
knowledge, and resources. Urban agriculture, community gardening and nutrition education as a
comprehensive approach to building community, improving public health, maintaining vacant and abandoned
land, working with disenfranchised youth and empowering residents to make a difference in their
neighborhoods is one of this community’s solutions. With a focus on the newly completed Flint Master Plan
(FMP) in 2014, which included community food systems goals and urban agriculture activities, we now have the
capacity to support a food hub, incubator kitchens, and farm to institution activities at the new Flint Farmer’s
Market, aligning with the vision and the guiding principles of the plan. The hiring of a Regional Food System
Navigator by the Community Foundation of Greater Flint is another significant development this year,
demonstrating our community’s resolve to work together to ensure optimal access to and consumption of
healthy food. The opening of the new MSU College of Human Medicine facility in the public health and wellness
sector by the new Market is also a positive development, as healthy food access is fundamental to public health
in combating diet related diseases and the College is attracting national leaders in their fields to Flint.
edible flint is the local organization through which the Ruth Mott Foundation urban agriculture/food systems
grant work is done. edible flint is a network of residents, nonprofit organizations, government representatives,
health institutions, educators, and advocates for food systems change that formed in 2009 working together in
the interest of a common mission: to support Flint residents in growing and accessing healthy food in order to
reconnect with the land and each other. With this mission in mind, edible flint divides its efforts among five
different work groups (Access & Education, Garden Starters, Food Garden Tour, Co-operative & Organizational),
each self-organized to address specific issues and opportunities in our local food system. Throughout the year,
edible flint’s work groups envision, plan and implement these efforts addressing individual and community
needs for healthy food access, creative and productive use of vacant land, knowledge and resilience.
Through a strategic planning process to develop an organizational structure in 2013, edible flint bylaws and a
Leadership Board were created, and edible flint received its 501c3 nonprofit status in March of 2014. edible flint
hosted its first Annual Meeting in March of 2014, and elected five new community based representatives to its
Board to serve alongside six workgroup representatives going forward using a consensus based decision making
model. Since the spring, the Board has joined the MI Non-Profit Association, adopted an affirmative action
statement, and is working with a volunteer accountant to be sure that the financial records are verified.
Michigan State University Extension (MSUE), in partnership with funding from the Ruth Mott Foundation
(RMF), has directly supported the local food systems movement in Flint and Genesee County with the
Community Food Systems (CFS) educator as point of contact for the edible flint network and the broader
Genesee Food Systems group since 2009. The urban agriculture/local food systems programming that the grant
supports addresses the Ruth Mott Foundation’s priorities of healthier and more active lifestyles; improved
public awareness of the benefits of locally grown fruits and vegetables through urban gardening/farming;
promoting season extension farming techniques and community supported agriculture (CSA) programs; and
supporting a healthy food system. The MSUE-Genesee office, staff and programs (including the edible flint grant
funded staff co-located within) received the support of the community through the passage of a millage in
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MSU Extension – Genesee RMF Grant Report 2013 – 14; Grant ID 1417.04; 11.1.13 – 10.31.14
2013-2014 Ruth Mott Urban Agriculture/Local Food Systems Grant Report November 28, 2014
November 2013 to provide stable funding for MSUE programming through 2017. We are grateful for the
incredible support that was shown, which strengthened our resolve to continue the important healthy food
access work that we do – through edible flint, the broader food systems work and the MSUE Nutrition and Food
Safety team.
Through involvement in numerous statewide community food systems initiatives and programs, the MSUE
Community Food Systems (CFS) educator links the local food movement to the statewide good food (healthy,
green, fair, affordable) initiatives, and is strategically positioned to connect statewide resources to the local
efforts. The CFS educator is a member of:
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the statewide MSUE Community Food Systems workgroup and contributing author of MSUE News,
and an affiliate of the MSU Center for Regional Food Systems (CRFS) and its MSU Student Organic Farm
(SOG), which is a national leader in developing season-extension food production techniques;
the CRFS Good Food Charter Steering Committee;
the MI Farm to Institution Network and its Cultivate MI local purchasing initiative;
the MI Food Hub Network;
Supervisor for the FoodCorps MI Program on behalf of MSUE, which has 6 sites around the state, (one
here in Flint at the Crim Fitness Foundation);
the MSU Extension’s MI Fresh Farmer’s Market program team;
MSU’s Faculty Outreach & Engagement work in Genesee County (78 MSU & MSUE outreach projects in
Flint & Genesee County were identified in 2013).
The planning team for the Women in Agriculture (WIA) network in Genesee County and the extended
area that began in 2014 (sponsored by MI Food & Farming Systems and the MSU Center for Regional
Food Systems). This network’s goals are to build knowledge, connections, innovate, problem-solve, and
create new opportunities for women’s livelihoods in Michigan. This project received funding for 2015,
including the building of a Women’s Incubator/Training Farm at Genesys Regional Medical Center to
train beginning farmers -another development in scaling up the availability of healthy, affordable food.
Description of Work:
The work is accomplished at the grass roots level as well as the broader regional level by engaging community
partners and volunteers, state level staff and programs, grant supported local staff and nutrition education/food
safety programs, integrating and increasing the reach of the Urban Agriculture/Local Food Systems
programming, multiplying the positive outcomes of a comprehensive community program and expanding our
reach to other community partners. edible flint’s alignment with the Flint Master Plan, with its direct support for
community gardens and urban agriculture through resources and education, crosses over multiple land use
place types, including Green Innovation, Community Open Space, Green Neighborhoods, Traditional
Neighborhoods, Mixed Residential and University Avenue Core, and can play a major role in the execution of the
Master Plan through its mission and numerous educational and resource based programs.
Community partners include: edible flint network; Ruth Mott Foundation; Genesee MSU Extension Office;
Genesee County Land Bank; Flint Farmer’s Market; Salem Housing Development Corporation; Genesee County
Health Department; Genesee Health System; Hurley Medical Center; Flint River Farm; Harvesting Earth
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MSU Extension – Genesee RMF Grant Report 2013 – 14; Grant ID 1417.04; 11.1.13 – 10.31.14
2013-2014 Ruth Mott Urban Agriculture/Local Food Systems Grant Report November 28, 2014
Educational Farm; Resource Genesee; Mott Community College; Genesys Regional Medical Center and the Mr.
Rogers Garden Program. In conjunction with these efforts, partnerships have been forged with the Genesee
Intermediate School District, the Greater Flint Health Coalition, the Flint Area Reinvestment Office, the Genesee
Farm Bureau, Genesee County Parks and Recreation, Mass Transportation Authority, Crim Fitness Foundation
and the Food Bank of Eastern MI. In addition, the CFS educator has presented to four different classes at UMFlint this year on the topic of Local and Community Food Systems – in the areas of sociology, environment and
English as a 2nd Language, and has an upcoming meeting planned with a UM anthropology professor on a new
project. These opportunities have helped foster a new partnership with U-M Flint which has led to a second
collaborative grant opportunity in 2015 for funding part of the Garden Starters program.
2014 Accomplishments to date:
Since its inception in 2009, edible flint has grown in scope and size, with 2014 being our most successful year to
date. We have trained edible flint participants to present to external audiences, and coordinate various
outreach events with an edible flint display and information table at meetings, events, and conferences to raise
awareness in the community. During 2014, edible flint reached 5849 residents through meetings, events and
presentations to date - 11/28/14. With the support of RMF funding, the Organizational workgroup redesigned
and updated the edible flint website www.edibleflint.org and is now managing it directly, keeping the content
current; created and distributed its first annual report; numerous publications promoting various 2014 edible
flint programs and events; and created Leadership Board organizational notebooks for the incoming members of
the Board. Through the Ruth Mott funded grant staff, our social media presence and graphic arts abilities have
been greatly expanded as well. A series of 5 additional educational workshops were added this year.
The Garden Starters workgroup programs in 2014 sold & distributed 300 garden kits to county residents in May
at a Distribution Day and Community Garden Celebration event at Salem Housing, which included educational
demonstrations on rain barrels, compost tea, veggie gardening tips, health & nutrition awareness and available
tools to borrow from Salem Housing’s Tool Shed. The edible flint kits contained 10 types of vegetable transplants
and 18 kinds of seeds (83% organic) for a standard sized garden, and services included tilling (28 gardens), soil
testing (39 tests) and compost delivery (300 yards) for 81 gardens in Flint (27 were new gardens in their first
year of establishment). This year’s cold, wet spring delayed services, and in some cases, caused cancellation of
services, which is reflected in these numbers.
The edible flint Garden Starters program transitioned the former Hurley Community Garden this spring into an
edible flint demonstration/training garden with the assistance of a UM Flint intern and volunteers. The new
layout includes row gardening, raised beds, square foot gardening, composting and wheelchair accessible aisles.
Materials have been donated by community partners and nurseries to assist the project’s launch. In March, a
class on backyard tree fruit pruning was held in nearby community gardens, and this fall compost, cover crops,
fall garden preparation and season extension workshops were held in this new edible flint demonstration
garden. In addition, the edible flint Garden Starters workgroup received a Michigan Disability Rights Coalition
inclusive gardens expansion grant of $500 last fall to be used in 2014. Salem Housing procured enabling garden
tools (now offered in their Toolshed) and partnered with Southwestern Academy students to try out garden
tools that are accessible and inclusive for gardeners with physical challenges, allowing us to reach new
audiences. Local vendor support was received from Gilroy’s and Lowes.
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MSU Extension – Genesee RMF Grant Report 2013 – 14; Grant ID 1417.04; 11.1.13 – 10.31.14
2013-2014 Ruth Mott Urban Agriculture/Local Food Systems Grant Report November 28, 2014
Garden Starters Program (veggie kits & services) survey participants from 2014 said:
 ‘The kit was wonderful! I shared some of the things that I did not use with others’.
 ‘This program is amazing and I hope to continue to see it grow! My life has been changed and I will
never again not have my own plot. Keep up the great work!’
 ‘Sorry, I would offer to volunteer in some way, but I'm just too busy. I'm a huge fan of this program and
keep telling as many people as I can!’
 100% of the survey respondents said that would recommend the program to a friend, and plan to have a
garden next year
Additional facts from the 2014 Garden Starters program survey (responses to the following questions):
 What type of garden did you have? (more than 1 category could be listed)
o Personal 49%; Family 37%; Community/Neighborhood 17%; School/Youth 9%;Faith Based 9%
 How is your produce used? (more than 1 category listed)
o My household 76.5%; shared with neighbors, churches 66.7%; Sold at market 7.8%; Sold to
businesses 3.9%; Donated 17.6%
 Where were the gardens located? 48% in 48503 zip code; 18.5% in 48504; 22.2% in 48505
 Age of the gardeners? 18-24: 3.8%; 25-34: 13.2%; 35-44: 30.2%; 45-54: 17%; 55-64: 26.4%; 65+: 9.4%
The 2014 Garden Starters training classes (28 students; 14 weeks) focused on local food systems, organic and
sustainable food gardening and pest management practices, soil health, composting, harvesting, food
preservation, cross-cultural communications, and accessing land and resources for growing food. This year an
on-farm field trip to the Flint River Farm was included. This was the first year that edible flint undertook
coordination of the Training Classes without the assistance of the RMF Program Outreach team - the class
coordinator position was added to this RMF grant request last year in anticipation of this transition of duties and
has gone very well, with all plans in place for the 2015 Training Classes, info available on www.edibleflint.org
Survey results from the 2014 Garden Starters Training classes indicated that, on a scale of 1 (low) to 5 (high),
the overall program experience rated a 4.9; and the class topics relevancy rated a 4.75. Comments included
‘good variety - covered start to finish in a garden; well experienced presenters; information or diversity of
different topics; feed me, teach me, connect me to experts and fellow gardeners; well organized; great training
and networking with local people’.
Several of our urban farmers sell produce at the Flint Farmer’s Market as independent businesses now after
belonging to the edible flint Co-op for a few years, selling produce and food products to local restaurants and
retail outlets. The Co-op workgroup provided a low risk training model for how to establish these individual food
businesses, and has demonstrated its success as a food business incubator, a model supported by the FMP.
The Access and Education workgroup conducted an in-depth assessment of convenience and grocery stores
within the City of Flint, directed by the doctorate work of a MSU Human/Community Nutrition & Dietetics
student in 2012. 187 stores were assessed with a tool that covered 11 categories /63 items, with a maximum of
80 points possible. Most of the stores scored between 12 and 24. The data is being processed, and this fall focus
group sessions primarily with women of color are being held by the MSU researcher in Flint at the MSUE office.
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MSU Extension – Genesee RMF Grant Report 2013 – 14; Grant ID 1417.04; 11.1.13 – 10.31.14
2013-2014 Ruth Mott Urban Agriculture/Local Food Systems Grant Report November 28, 2014
The workgroup seeks to increase the understanding about how food choices affect health, and advocate for
policy changes that will increase the availability and access of healthy food. This study’s data will be released to
edible flint, and can be used as a tool to implement recommendations made in the Master Plan.
The 2014 Food Garden Tour workgroup highlighted the way our community is addressing a number of needs
including: food access, education and skill building, youth engagement, creating new entrepreneurial
opportunities, community building, and reuse of vacant land in our neighborhoods. The event, the 6th Annual
Food Garden Tour, included bus and bike routes and took place on July 30. More than 280 people participated in
touring 16 different gardens across the City of Flint, with a community celebration that took place at the new
Flint Farmer’s Market afterwards, including food, music and fellowship. This year’s tour included a Partner in
Healthy Living Fair, which included 14 community partners sharing their information with tour attendees. edible
flint’s food garden tour promotes cross neighborhood communications, public participation and community
problem solving, supporting the vision and principles of the Master Plan.
2014 Food Garden Tour evaluation results:
 Attended in the past? 45.3%; Interested in attending in the future? 94.7%
 Participants were from the following cities: Flint, Flint Township, Burton, Swartz Creek, Mt. Morris, Clio,
Linden, Grand Blanc, Flushing, Davison, Fenton, Saginaw, E. Lansing, Lansing, Grand Rapids, Lapeer,
Goodrich, Filion (Thumb), Byron, Farmington, Brighton, and these states: Virginia, Florida, Wash. DC
Please share your level of agreement (1 – 5 scale) with the following statements:
 The Food Garden Tour was successful in helping to build civic pride and community good will. (Ave=4.79)
 After going on the tour, I understand more about the challenges and opportunities of urban food
gardening. (Ave=4.86)
Are there any actions that you will take as a result of being on the tour? Plant new/different vegetables 45.9%;
Composting 21.5%; Start a garden 27.9%; Buy local food 48.8%; other responses said: ‘extend garden to
neighbors; volunteer; promote urban garden; learn more; start a community garden; more collaboration;
continue to garden; network!’
edible flint’s dollar value of community generated volunteer hours (based on Independent Sector hourly value
$22.55/hour) was $26,158 with 157 volunteers serving 1,160 volunteer hours for community work so far in
2014. These volunteers include MSUE Master Gardeners, a group from AmeriCorps National Civilian Community
Corps, MSU summer health program students, a Reliance One group from Auburn Hills, Garden Starters kits,
services and training class program participants, Salem Housing volunteers, Ruth Mott Cares volunteers as well
as many community individuals and organizational participants. edible flint developed a volunteer job
description and application in 2014, and participated in Resource Genesee’s Volunteer Expo this fall to recruit
additional assistants.
In conjunction with these local efforts, the Genesee Food Systems/Flint Food Hub group moved forward with
planning meetings last winter to enhance community food systems and economic development by preparing for
the opening of the FoodWorks incubator kitchen at the new Flint Farmer’s Market, including its capacity to
operate as a food hub. Training food entrepreneurs who create value-added locally/regionally produced food
products, providing wider access to institutional and retail markets for small to mid-sized producers, and
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MSU Extension – Genesee RMF Grant Report 2013 – 14; Grant ID 1417.04; 11.1.13 – 10.31.14
2013-2014 Ruth Mott Urban Agriculture/Local Food Systems Grant Report November 28, 2014
increasing access of fresh healthy food for consumers, including underserved areas and food deserts, are goals.
MSU consultant Ron Steiner from the Starting Block incubator kitchen in Hart, MI was an advisor on the
FoodWorks incubator kitchen, and Flint food entrepreneurs were given the opportunity to attend a 2 day Food
Product Boot Camp in March that Ron taught, supported by Uptown Reinvestment and hosted by MSUE, to be
ready to use the new FoodWorks facilities when they opened in June.
MSUE also hosted three ServeSafe training classes for food product entrepreneurs in May & June, and one this
fall. We connected the MI Food Hub network to local food entrepreneurs this past year, helping with grant
proposals, and securing a local food hub consultant from the MI network to support the work in Flint. Because
of all of the activity in community food systems in Flint and Genesee County, we attracted the attention of
MSU’s President Lou Anna K. Simon last January, who met with key stakeholders in the community food systems
work at a meeting organized by the CFS educator and hosted by the CS Mott Foundation. This January, MSUE
will be hosting a ‘Selling into New Markets and Food Hubs-Boot camp for Financial and Food Safety Success for
Specialty Crop Farmers’ in Flint, and in March we are hosting a full day Urban Farmer Vegetable Workshop to
improve grower’s skills.
MSU Extension Food Safety staff support RMF grant audiences by provided lessons on food safety, and food
preservation, empowering families with skills, knowledge and confidence to plan ahead for healthy and
affordable meals. Three MSUE Preserving Summer’s Harvest classes (Water Bath & Pressure Canning, Essentials
of Blanching & Freezing, Making Jams & Jellies) were held in the summer of 2014 at the new Flint Farmer’s
Market, to increase the visibility and reach of the programming.
By actively seeking grants that support this local food systems work, and the edible flint programming that is
bringing in revenue, we are able to demonstrate that we have generated over $17,700 of our own funding to
support these efforts in the next funding cycle. The edible flint bank statement balance for October 31, 2014 is
$24,660.04. The CFS educator is pursuing an alliance with the Community Foundation in 2015 to assist with an in
depth evaluation of the edible flint programming over the past five years to understand its qualitative and
quantitative impact on Flint and Genesee County. The data derived from this evaluation will be valuable for the
edible flint network and its current and future funders.
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MSU Extension – Genesee RMF Grant Report 2013 – 14; Grant ID 1417.04; 11.1.13 – 10.31.14