According to the hunger-relief organization Feeding America, over 1.5 million Michigan residents struggle with hunger. MSU Extension Master Gardener (EMG) volunteers are helping improve food security across the state. Through workshops, demonstrations, and leadership in community gardens, MSU EMGs donate fresh produce to food pantries across the state and teach others how to grow food using sustainable practices. These efforts support more Michigan residents in accessing healthier food.
The resources below can be used by MSU EMG volunteers on approved projects that address food insecurity. Projects include community gardens, food donation gardens, and other educational fruit and vegetable gardens.
Need information on how to create a community and/or donation garden? These resources can get you going.
Need information on food safety in food gardens? Here are some resources to share at your projects. These articles can be printed and shared with food garden participants. MSU EMGs cannot deliver food safety and preservation education, but we have MSUE staff across the state who can partner with us to provide that education.
- MSU Safe Food and Water newsletter
- Food Safety Hotline at 1-877-643-9882, Monday-Friday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
- Health and Safety in the Garden
- MSU Food Preservation newsletter
- Community Donation Gardening Toolkit, Section 3: Food Safety Practices
Looking for a place to donate food? Any MSU EMG can harvest and donate food from an approved MSU EMG project and count that effort as volunteer hours. Find a food donation site here:
Our Smart Gardening Tipsheet series includes many beginner-friendly tip sheets that are perfect for community gardeners, food donation recipients, and educational settings where fruits and vegetables are grown. You can print them yourself or contact an MSU EMG staff member to request glossy, full-color copies."
- Smart watering in the vegetable garden
- Preparing the smart vegetable garden
- Smart Gardening: Choosing a smart site for your vegetable garden
- Smart Gardening: Growing Backyard Fruit Trees
- Smart Gardening: Pruning and Training Backyard Apple and Pear Trees
- Considerations for growing backyard small fruit
- Smart fertilizer use: Vegetable gardens begin with soil management plan
- Planting a Smart Vegetable Garden
- Smart Gardening: Integrated pest management in vegetable gardens
- Smart Gardening: Pollination in vegetable gardens and backyard fruit
- Composting: A Smart Gardening Practice that Recycles Yard and Garden Waste
- Smart Gardening: Don't Guess-Soil Test!
- Smart Gardeners Improve Their Soil and Weed Control with Organic Mulch
- What To Do About Compacted Soil
- Smart gardens begin with healthy soil
- Smart Soils: What You Can Do to Reduce Phosphorus
For those looking for curricula to use in food gardens with SNAP-Ed eligible clients, Planting Seeds for Health is a curriculum that blends vegetable gardening with nutrition and physical activity education. See the following curriculum outline: PS4H Curriculum Outline .pdf. To help deliver the gardening part of this curriculum, an MSU EMG needs to partner with an MSU Extension Community Nutrition Instructor. Reach out to your local MSU EMG staff to see if this opportunity is available in your area.
These are great courses to share with the public while volunteering. These courses on food gardening are completely online, inexpensive, and informative.
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