Trio to Highlight Farm to School Opportunities in Morning Keynote at Summit

October 07, 2014

The opening keynote address of the 2014 Michigan Good Food Summit on October 28 in Lansing will feature three leaders in Michigan's farm to school movement coming from three different sectors of the food system.

The opening keynote address of the 2014 Michigan Good Food Summit on October 28 in Lansing will feature three leaders in Michigan’s farm to school movement coming from three different sectors of the food system.

Betti Wiggins, Executive Director of the Detroit Public Schools Office of School Nutrition and Barbara Norman, a fourth generation blueberry farmer in Covert, Michigan, will join together for this keynote to share their experiences with farm to school and their long term visions for school food and farming in Michigan. Christine Quane, wholesale market coordinator for Eastern Market, will moderate the discussion.

Betti Wiggins is responsible for school-based meal operations in 143 schools for all USDA child nutrition programs and non-program sales, facilities management, employees and services. In 2011, under her leadership, the Detroit School Garden Collaborative was established, which currently supports 76 school-based gardens and a 2.5 acre school farm.

Barbara Norman is Owner-Operator of Barbara’s Blueberry Batch as well as a strong community advocate for local and regionally grown foods. She works to improve the health, nutrition and physical well-being of families through supporting farm to school, farm to institution, youth gardens, farmers markets, and home gardens.

Christine Quane works with agencies and partners to identify changes needed to facilitate increased procurement of Michigan-grown foods by schools, restaurants, hospitals and other institutions.