Press
Great Lakes Agricultural Fair Association brings agricultural experience to Michigan residents
(May 29, 2014) — A new Great Lakes Agricultural Fair Association (GLAF) initiative is bringing an agricultural component to several area events, including many of those in suburban and urban settings.
The Great Lakes Agricultural Fair will offer a unique adaptation of the former State Fair’s finest traditions. Through travelling educational exhibits, The Great Lakes Agriculture Fair joins in collaboration with a variety of community organizations and regional festivals to present an amazing new vision of agricultural development and sustainability complete with animals, education displays, vendors and lots of great Michigan food.
From the fruit orchards of Traverse City to the urban garden of Eastern Market in Detroit, Michigan has an amazing agricultural heritage that spans generations of families, provides residents with a shared cultural identity and boosts the state economy.
According to Steve Thelen, GLAF executive director, agricultural enterprise is the #2 top industry in the state, contributing billions of dollars a year to the state economy.
The goal of The Great Lakes Agriculture Fair is to familiarize people with the vital connection between farms and the products they use in their homes every day.
“It doesn’t matter what you eat, most ingredients start at the farm,” said Larry Bush, a GLAF board member and chairperson of Swartz Creek Hometown Days.
Indeed, the vast majority of products on supermarket shelves contain ingredients that were grown by American farmers. However, as the number of community farms diminished over the years, children have been exposed to fewer hands-on agricultural lessons.
“People need to know where their food comes from,” said Thelen. “A lot of people think that food just comes from the corner market.”
The GLAF hopes to change that by bringing a series of agricultural displays and exhibits to local festivals and events statewide. In a sense, they are bringing the fair directly to the visitors.
First on the schedule is Swartz Creek Hometown Days. Now in its 29th year, this festival attracts 35,000 visitors from the Flint area, Genesee County and surrounding counties for good, old-fashioned family fun with a parade, carnival, fireworks and entertainment.
“We long wanted to have an agricultural component as part of festival,” said Bush.
At Swartz Creek Hometown Days, scheduled for May 29-June 1, GLAF will have a 40×60-foot tent featuring farm animals like a goat, lamb and calf. Children can visit with the animals and learn more about the agricultural story behind some of their favorite foods. Among the many educational displays will be a description of how milk gets from the farm to the grocery store shelf and how wheat becomes bread, for example.
As GLAF guides our citizens to discover the treasures of Michigan, they will be joined by their Treasured Partners, which include, Axis CrossMedia, CORP! Food & Agriculture, Genisys Credit Union, Greening Detroit, Michigan Food and Beverage Association, Michigan State University Extension and Pure Michigan.
In addition to Swartz Creek Hometown Days the GLAF program will be at:
n Utica Riverwalk June 19-22
n Metro Detroit Youth Day July 9, featuring the Scholarship Career Program and a Pure Michigan display
n Farm to Fork “Taste of Agriculture” fundraising event for the GLAF Association’s Gold Ribbon Scholarship Program Sept. 24
n CORP! Food and Agricultural Awards Breakfast Nov. 4
The Great Lakes Agriculture Fair Association was organized as a Michigan not for profit corporation in February of 2011. The organization is committed to excellence in providing opportunities for the development and promotion of agriculture, education, industry and family entertainment. This scholarship program reflects its mission to provide an educational experience for urban, near urban and rural people, especially youth, through programs and exhibitions designed to include local and regional participation, demonstrations and competition.