It wasn't too far back that pairing the word "green" with anything edible conjured up thoughts of mold-laden bread and over-the-hill bologna.
Obviously, that definition has morphed into something more meaningful: fresh and sustainable. Which is why, on a particularly hot and humid day last week, about 1,000 people converged down a dusty two-track in Honor to attend organic-edibles maker Food for Thought's Green Cuisine event. They were there to celebrate northwestern Michigan's bounty of local foods, eco-conscious lifestyle items and fair-trade products from around the globe.
Tim Young, the company's owner and chef, knows firsthand how food and globalization play a role in a region's stability – he did relief work in war-torn Central America in the 1980s. When he returned to the States, he knew he could no longer swallow the idea of "anonymous consumption, blind to the connection between how we choose to eat and others' ability to simply live."
Young's
Food for Thought was born in 1995 as an antidote to the growing global-industrial food system. His first wild organic foods were canned and preserved in his house, which is made from recycled materials and wood from his building site.
The company compound has grown to include several outbuildings, solar panels and a long line of delicious organic products, among them preserves, dried mushrooms, wild leeks, maple syrup and herb-infused delights. His award-winning company's also doing private-label production, gift baskets, and donates one percent of its gross earnings to nonprofits that work to protect and improve the human and natural environment.
Writer: Patty LaNoue Stearns
Source: Tim Young
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