March 9, 2021

Moving U.P. Food Businesses Online

We are excited to announce that Taste the Local Difference has partnered with the Upper Peninsula Small Business and Development Center (SBDC) to offer 20 U.P. food and…

April 15, 2020

Farming in the Age of Coronavirus

As a farmer, I’m always trying to plan for the unexpected. A late spring hail shreds the leafy greens, a rainy market day puts us behind our sales…

March 25, 2020

Les Cheneaux Culinary School: Cultivating Culinary & Local Food Culture

Les Cheneaux Culinary School (LCCS), located in Hessel, was brought to life in September of 2014 by the Les Cheneaux Community Foundation (LCCF), a group of individuals who…

November 26, 2018

Young Professionals of the Upper Peninsula

Where are the young people? It’s a question I have been asked a lot this past year as Upper Peninsula Local Food Coordinator for Taste the Local Difference.…

July 6, 2018

The Revival and Growth of the County Fair

When I say the words “county fair,” what comes to mind? For me there is nostalgia that rolls in as I think of my own Menominee County Fair…

May 1, 2018

Collaboration in the Upper Peninsula: Four the Water

I remember how excited I was to first see the ocean when I was younger. It was an experience that I had been missing out on my whole…

January 3, 2018

Say Hey to the Yooper, eh?

Excuse me if my writing feels a bit exhausted, walking fifteen miles uphill in two feet of snow, just to get wi-fi for this post has drained me.…

November 9, 2017

Eating Locally This Winter –Even in the UP

It’s already snowed here in the U.P. a handful of times. The farmers markets have closed down until next year or retreated inside, but that doesn’t mean the…

October 4, 2017

Growing Opportunity in the Eastern UP’s Fields, Forests and Farmers Markets

When a small group of individuals driven by the idea of bringing a farmers market to Les Cheneaux first met, they envisioned a Friday night tourist attraction in…

September 5, 2017

A Final Summertime Hurrah : NMU’s Hospitality Gala

Connecting chefs, farmers, and the community as well as celebrating Northern Michigan University’s Hospitality Management program is what the Hospitality Gala on Sept. 23 is all about. Chefs…