Lake Effect farmstand fills food access gap in Copper Harbor

Lake Effect Farm co-owner Adam Millsap with the Lake Effect farmstand in Copper Harbor. Photo courtesy of Lake Effect Farm.

Correction: In an earlier version of this story, Melissa Young-Millsap’s name was misspelled.

This past July, Lake Effect Farm opened its non-conventional outdoor farmstand at the Gas Lite General Store in Copper Harbor (AKA ‘the Genny’). The stand is essentially a large refrigerator within a weather-proof shed, built by the crew at Lake Effect Farm. Farm-fresh produce is available for purchase by the honor system, where customers leave funds in the cash box or use the touchscreen to make a debit/credit card purchase and then help themselves to the fresh veg.

The partnership formed between Lake Effect Farm and the Gas Lite General Store ensures access to nutritious, fresh food for the residents of Copper Harbor and the surrounding area, reducing the region’s reliance on imported goods, a major asset in the geographically isolated peninsula. It also often fosters community engagement, wherein residents know where their food comes from and the people behind its production.

Melissa Young-Millsap checks crops growing at Lake Effect Farm. Photo by Lily Venable.

“The Genny does an incredible job with all kinds of dry goods and more,” said Adam Millsap, co-owner of Lake Effect Farm. “But produce, it’s really hard for grocery stores because you have to have a high volume of customership to make those numbers work. But we can harvest daily and hold things in the field for as long we need, so we’re able to cover the gap.”

The farmstand has gained positive reception and feedback from the community that, according to Millsap, has been reflected in sales, too.

“One of the benefits of being in a close-knit community like Copper Harbor is that word travels fast,” says Millsap. “If you’ve got something good going, they show up right away.”

Lake Effect Farm is located in Trail’s End Campground, featuring acres of property, its own pond, and several greenhouses, complete with an efficient automated watering system built by Millsap.

Their website proudly boasts their namesake, a tribute to the agricultural conditions caused by Lake Superior: “The Lake Effect, a thermodynamic heat bubble caused by Lake Superior, makes it possible for us to be here, farming the North Coast in a zone 5b.”

The farmstand will continue to be open for as long as the farm is producing crops and looks forward to next year’s season of bounty.

From left to right, Lake Effect Farm owners Melissa Young-Millsap and Adam Millsap and farmhands Nick Niffin and Kathryn Little. Photo by Lily Venable.

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Meet Up and Eat Up program breaks record by serving 118,426 meals in 10 weeks

Shelby Turnquist(center) with volunteers Jonah(left) and Oliver(right). Photo credit to Boersma Family Roots.

Meet Up and Eat Up, officially known as the Summer Food Service Program, is a free school food program that piloted this summer. The program was open to all residents with children, and distributed meals for free in Houghton and Hancock during the summer season to families with children that would normally receive meals provided by the school.

Such initiatives play a crucial role in addressing food insecurity, especially among families with children. By providing nutritious meals to those who might be struggling to afford them, these programs contribute to the overall well-being and development of children.

MICHIGAN FOOD SECURITY COUNCIL FINAL REPORT, 2022

The program is through the Michigan Department of Education and is partially funded by the federal government based on the percentage of applications received for free or reduced school lunch applications at the school. 

The meals come with milk, juice, snacks, and entrees for the week, as well as fresh fruit and produce acquired from local participating farmers: Mother Farmer, Ghost House Farm, Boersma Family Roots, North Harvest Farm, and Eden Greens.

Shelby Turnquist: Food Access Champion

In the midst of food insecurity, it’s great to have individuals like Shelby Turnquist in your corner, who are championing food access and supporting families in need by applying for and coordinating meal distribution programs.

“The program came in at the very last minute from the federal government,” said Turnquist. “I went after it. A rural feeding program gave us the opportunity to do curbside pick-up, but who knows what’s going to happen next year? The last four years, it’s been a last-minute, switch-up-the-program type of deal.”

Turnquist says she spent weeks on the phone trying to secure the program for both Hancock and Houghton schools. The program requires many types of coordination: not only jumping through hoops to qualify, but also advertising, customer correspondence, meal packing, meeting food safety requirements, acquiring volunteers, processing leftover food, and coordinating between farmers, to name a few.

“All I know is, I’m here to feed the kids,” said Turnquist.

Local farmer Nichole Boersma says the tenacity with which Turnquist approached the program is infectious.

“She is an inspiration and someone that I admire beyond words. She handles the program like the incredible boss of a woman that she is,” said Boersma. “So many families depend on her over the summer, and she is insanely humble about it.”

According to Turnquist, programs like this one executed downstate require farmers to bring in specific vegetables, while Turnquist opts to let the farmers bring in what is freshest off their fields.

“She told us to bring what we could and if something didn't move well, she would let us know. The relationship was super fluid and she definitely helped stimulate the local food economy,” said Boersma.

Turnquist and her crew distributed 600-700 meals a day this summer. The only qualification that had to be met was having a child under the age of 18. Children with special needs were also accepted up to the age of 26, provided that they were enrolled in a school. Turnquist noted that this type of qualification meets the needs of families that aren’t “well off” but don’t qualify for other types of assistance. 

The most difficult part of the program, according to Turnquist, was the time spent processing food to be frozen, leftover from people who signed up for meals but didn’t pick them up. Some weeks up to 100 people were a no-show. However, Turnquist comments that if they reached just one child who didn’t go hungry that day because of the meals, then their efforts are well worth it.

“Growing up my parents always taught us to treat all children like they're your own,” explained Turnquist. “I’ve taken that to heart. And people that worked on the program have that same heart and soul for the kids.”

Emelia Johnson, a teacher in the school district who helps pack and distribute the boxes, commented that it’s also a great way to expose local families to the flavorful bounty of fresh vegetables that our local farms have to offer.

Food insecurity is a significant issue in many communities, and efforts like Shelby Turnquist and the Meet Up and Eat Up program can make a positive impact by ensuring that children have access to essential nutrition. This, in turn, can improve their health, cognitive development, and educational outcomes.

This article is a part of a larger series on food access in the Keweenaw. If you are a food insecure Keweenaw resident in need of community resources, call 211.

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Calumet Community Free Fridge offers fresh produce to address food insecurity in Keweenaw

Sue Peterson with a crate of donations. Photo courtesy of North Harvest Farm.

Correction: Lee Peterson has been added as a volunteer coordinator alongside Sue Peterson.

In the Keweenaw, a significant challenge has long persisted: limited access to fresh and affordable food. This geographical predicament, often referred to as a "food desert," has hindered the community's ability to enjoy nutritious sustenance easily. However, food access in the region is expanding, and there are now many more ways to acquire fresh produce while supporting local farms and without breaking the bank.

This year marks the opening of the wildly successful Calumet Community Free Fridge started by Ashley TenHarmsel of North Harvest Farm. TenHarmsel partnered with volunteer coordinator Sue Peterson and Ron Rea of Calumet’s The Office Shop to offer a fridge of fresh produce, available to the community five days a week, at no cost to them and with no questions asked.

Ashley TenHarmsel. Photo by Lily Venable.

TenHarmsel says what sparked the idea was the Calumet farmer’s market taking on more food access programs and the continuing discourse on food access. Keeping an eye on social media, she saw community fridges being executed in other states on Instagram. Then, she attended a Women in Agriculture seminar last winter for an in-depth look at how it’s done. Finally, she took a leap of faith in her community.

“I had no idea how it was going to do, if we needed social media, if people would feel comfortable going, or would want to donate. But the farmers’ donations have been incredible. They're extremely happy to do that,” said TenHarmsel.

How it works: Calumet Market vendors bring plenty of produce to the busy Saturday morning market and donate what they don’t sell to the Free Fridge. Donors include Ghost House Farm (Houghton), Lake Effect Farm (Copper Harbor), North Harvest Farm (Calumet), Boersma Family Roots (Calumet), Whispering Wild Market Farm (Toivola), and Minnie Farms (Lake Linden). Calumet vendors Superior Cupcakes (Lake Linden) and Two Old Broads Bakery (Calumet) also donate leftover baked goods.

According to program coordinators, the fridge has been so popular that the donations are usually gone within a couple of days. The Office Shop recently put out a post on Facebook calling for local gardeners to donate excess produce.

“I get here at 7:30 a.m. in the morning on Monday. I get half a dozen people before 8:30 a.m. just taking what they need and being very grateful for the produce and being able to have fresh salads and eat healthy. Because times are tough,” said Rea. “I’ve seen tears several times. It’s been maybe 5 weeks. Each week, there is more and more energy. More and more items flow in.”

The refrigerator itself was donated by Rachael Pressley, and Rea comments that he will soon need a second fridge to house all the produce from local farmers and gardeners. 

Cash donations are also accepted, which go to the farmers to buy their produce.

The program is in addition to the Office Shop’s existing free food pantry, where Rea also coordinates the distribution of winter clothes, children’s Christmas items, and non-perishable food items.

Rea says his personal motivations for helping the community come from memories of his parents.

The Calumet Community Free Fridge. Photo courtesy of the Office Shop.

“My parents gave a lot. I saw it when I was growing up. My father worked hard, but he always had time to help people. He fixed things and people’s cars at no charge. My mom cleaned houses for people at no charge. They did things out of the goodness of their heart just constantly. They always seemed to be open and giving,” said Rea.

“It’s a calling I think,” he continued. “The universe has pushed me in that direction. It’s something that I like to do, and I enjoy doing it. I’m lucky that people give me the resources I need to do it. And we’re going to continue to do it for as long as we can.”

TenHarmsel would like to see how they can expand the model to open more fridges around the Keweenaw.

“It would help to have someone leading that. Volunteers would be needed to get that set up. And then possibly multiple locations within the town. If people don’t have access to wheels, they could walk,” said TenHarmsel. 

“We’re figuring it out as it’s going, and it's going really well,” TenHarmsel continued. “It’s the volunteers and donors and people coming out that really make it happen.”

To donate, or to pick up produce, canned goods, or other food items at no cost to you - visit the Office Shop at 25703 Scott St. in Calumet open Monday-Friday 7:30 a.m.- 5 p.m. Rea also comments to leave your name and number with him if you need something specific.

Follow the Office Shop on Facebook for updates.

This article is a part of a larger series on food access in the Keweenaw. If you are a food insecure Keweenaw resident in need of community resources, call 211.

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Speaking With My Stomach

Hey team, it’s Chris. Welcome to “Speaking With My Stomach,” a food column where we’ll be talking about food in all different kinds of ways; the history of foods and ingredients, how to cook them, and celebrating the love language that is universal.

This time, join me on a trip to Valencia, Spain, the birthplace of paella, Spain's most famous dish.

Spain’s capital city of Valencia is a breathtaking old city, founded during the tenure of the Roman Empire in 138 BC, and hopefully, someday I just might get to be there in person. For today, we’ll have to see it vicariously through our mind’s eye and through our taste buds by recreating today’s dish.

Spanish cuisine is known for its bold flavors and wealth of spices, and because of Valencia’s close proximity to the Mediterranean Sea, we get to experience the flavor rush of saffron in this rice-based delicacy.

If you have a shellfish allergy, don’t feel left out! The traditional paella valenciana recipe uses chicken, pork or rabbit, so feel welcome to follow along with just chicken or pork, because I’ll be using pork and sausage.

There’s a vague guideline to follow for paella and it can be hard to choose a line to stay in, so don’t! There is no one true paella because it was originally a peasant dish that could have anything from squid to prawns, to rabbit and eel.

You can make chorizo sausage paella, veggie paella, or any of the paellas we already discussed. The essential ingredients are saffron and rice. I will provide portion sizes as we go.

Saffron is a highly-priced spice that requires only a small quantity. Although it might be challenging to find, its worth is incomparable. In case of unavailability, turmeric can serve as a substitute but cannot match the flavor. Turmeric can also be used to achieve the desired color.

This dish is really fun because it has a “socarrat,” a crispy bottom rice layer, and a “sofrito,” a kind of sauce our rice layer will be cooked in.

I’m going to be really specific about the kind of rice we use because this dish puts a lot of focus on the mouthfeel, so we’ll need a short or medium grain round rice because it soaks up a lot more liquid with breaking down and becoming a mush. Bomba, Calasparra, and Senia are the recommended rice strains I found in my digging. Arborio rice works in a pinch and can be found in U.P. stores easily enough.

For the proteins of the paella, I'm using a sliced sausage (I won't be too picky), and pork short rib. Here's my blend for short rib seasoning:

• ½ tbsp salt

• ½ tbsp black pepper

• 1 tbsp cumin

• ½ tbsp paprika

• 1 tbsp garlic powder

• 1 tbsp onion powder

• ½ tsp cane sugar

You can either individually rub the seasoning onto the meat or toss it in the bowl to evenly coat it and save time. This should work for one to one and a half pounds of short rib.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. While the oven preheats, you can sear your meats to prep them for the oven. While your meat is searing and the oven is heating up, you can start the prep on your veggies by dicing your single white onion. I like my onion to be very finely diced, almost to the size of the rice, but you can go with what you feel.

Once the oven reaches the desired temperature, the short rib should cook for about 20 minutes. Since we are not roasting it in its entirety, it won't take all day. However, to be safe, please ensure that your pork is cooked to at least 145 degrees Fahrenheit to avoid food poisoning. At “Speaking With My Stomach,” we take food safety very seriously.

So anyways, meat is doing its thing. Let's talk about our wets, the sofrito. In one pan we need to have 3 cups of stock (could be chicken, veggie, or a shellfish base) and one cup of chardonnay. If you don't want to play with chardonnay, go for four cups of base. Take your precious saffron and place some strands (roughly half of your little pack) into the stock and put it on medium heat to simmer it.

Sofrito, a tomato sauce with sliced sausage. Photo by Chris Jaehnig.

Let the stock and saffron intermix, and let's focus on the sofrito. For the sofrito, we want between low and medium heat under our saucepan. In the pan, we'll want 1/3 cup of veggie oil, our diced onion, and two cloves of minced garlic. We want to cook these together until the oil is translucent, and the onion and garlic are just starting to brown.

Now we want to add two finely diced Roma tomatoes and stir them in with 1.5 teaspoons of paprika and half a teaspoon of salt, and my sliced sausage. Let the tomatoes cook down a little bit, and now we'll mix in the simmering stock and saffron sprigs, along with two cups of rice.

Stir the rice into the sofrito fully, and now level it out into the pan.

This part, making the socarrat, was tricky for me. With risotto, it’s stir-stir-stir so it doesn’t stick or burn, but to make socarrat, we simmer our rice, sofrito and broth together allowing it to carmelize and make a bit of a crunchy base. We don’t want it burnt or undercooked, so this part needs a lot of attention and patience.

It can take 15-20 minutes on medium heat to get this crunchy layer, but forgetting it completely or giving it too much of a window will burn it. We use short or medium grain rice because it absorbs a lot of liquid over a longer period of time, so this will help it stop from burning.

Once the socarrat has had time to do its thing, we'll want to thinly slice our pork short rib and place it along the edges of the pan in a radial pattern for serving.

Some experienced paella cooks report being able to hear a satisfying crackling sound when it's done, but I, unfortunately, pulled mine too soon, and I didn't get that perfect bottom—but it tasted phenomenal. The saffron is so subtle, but is a flavor you can't really liken to anything else, and was worth the treasure hunt I had to go on.

Finished paella with pork short rib. Photo by Chris Jaehnig.

This dish can be used as a side, or as a standalone dish and can feed 4-6, depending on how hungry everyone is. I fed five with mine and had a bit left over.

Thanks for hanging out, I hope this classic Spanish dish works for you, and until next time, don't forget to tip!

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Houghton Taco Bell closed due to high carbon monoxide levels

The Taco Bell on Razorback Drive in Houghton closed to the public on Friday, June 16, due to high carbon monoxide levels detected.

Though staff remained at work to do deep cleaning, a Taco Bell employee said that they couldn’t run their food equipment due to the risk.

According to the neighboring business, the restaurant’s CO alarm was activated and employees were evacuated until they got the go-ahead to return to the store by the fire department.

The fire department could not be reached Friday for comment.

Other employees estimate the store will reopen by tomorrow.

The Taco Bell manager on duty declined to comment.

According to the EPA, carbon monoxide exposure could lead to effects from fatigue and chest pain to impaired vision and even death. Sources could include unvented kerosene and gas space heaters, furnaces or stove leaks, or incomplete oxidation during combustion in gas ranges, and unvented gas or kerosene heaters.

Around 12:30 p.m., AirCare of Houghton visited the restaurant. A representative from AirCare said they haven’t found the cause of the carbon monoxide levels and declined further comment.

Editor’s Note: This story has been edited to reflect the correct chemical formula for carbon monoxide.

If you’re interested in republishing this story, please email us at editor@copperbeacon.org.

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