At The Henry Ford, a living-history museum in Detroit, 70 percent of the produce used at restaurants and snack bars is bought from local farms, says an article by the Michigan Land Use Institute. That’s a recent development, attributed to The Henry Ford’s food service director, Susan Schmidt, who realized one day in 2005 that everything about the museum’s popular Eagle Tavern was historically authentic – except the food. The tavern has no electricity, uses period china and serves authentic recipes. But the ingredients were coming from afar. So Schmidt started asking their food service suppliers where they could get Michigan sweet corn and heirloom tomatoes, and the suppliers didn’t have an answer.
Today, the museum works with area farmers to supply 60 percent of its chicken and half the flour in baked goods, as well as most of its produce.
Now, the Henry Ford is moving onto a new farm-related project: to restore the Central Farmers Market, one of the country’s oldest market structures, which once stood in the heart of downtown Detroit.
The the complete article, visit http://mlui.org.