׉?ׁB!בCטFFu׉׉ 7cassandra://CAdJteMXsIHOEgC0rk57NKRuFslAUsIElYOd-0znY84o`׉ 7cassandra://smReO1_0BUIigX7dROojDJtLK_9hNO_E4-seXylwrUk͛B`h׉ 7cassandra://tRxErj9-Jj5Si3nfEFFCNWbl5q9Pg4iQIzjCYON8oLQ5W`׉ 7cassandra://wi1fy9UfAFZc-1y9iTH0Eo-dP_GVEhS3ca61BnFXLQk F͠4duvFז0?HRטFu׈K0Y2׈EduvFז0?HQ׉E-2 $ JANUARY 13, 2023 | VOLUME 14 | ISSUE 2 YOUR DONATION BENEFITS THE VENDORS. PLEASE BUY ONLY FROM BADGED VENDORS. Food should be free! Ypsilanti shutters the Love Stand. Page 4 ASK YOUR VENDOR: WHAT WOULD MAKE ANN ARBOR A BETTER PLACE FOR FAMILIES? GROUNDCOVER NEWS AND SOLUTIONS FROM THE GROUND UP | WASHTENAW COUNTY, MICH. green gold? Who can afford FOOD ACCESS EDITION Fresh, local produce at Argus Farm Stop. Photo credit: Alexandra Granberg. THIS PAPER WAS BOUGHT FROM @groundcovernews, include vendor name and vendor # NEW ISSUE EVERY OTHER FRIDAY! ׉ 7cassandra://tRxErj9-Jj5Si3nfEFFCNWbl5q9Pg4iQIzjCYON8oLQ5W`duvFז0?HQduvFז0?HQ בCט u׉׉ 7cassandra://HAqnLB5SJuKfbvYMtFby6TkBGRp_jIH40TcE7WosT3gK`I׉ 7cassandra://LxcBriKUkmYy9oPk9s7BcDDTJuxUqsO0rsIb0sMG2nY`׉ 7cassandra://2B-szvwJKf2crpmxt6CIM2NqH4JRKgZhQ9rj9Y-Ht6wN`׉ 7cassandra://zGldNg0uUvseGRCLcvlVzDsX5W655Vt5b1ElhkdSgDAqH͠ iduwFז0?HRנduvFז0?HR ǁ9׉Hhttp://www.groundcovernews.orgGׁ ׁ rנduvFז0?HR ܁9׉H http://linktr.ee/groundcovernewsGׁ ׁ rנduvFז0?HR 9׉Hhttps://pscinc.co/discussGׁ ׁ rנduwFז0?HR^9ׁH"mailto:contact@groundcovernews.comׁ ׁ ЈנduwFז0?HR sS 9ׁHhttp://states.Thׁ ׁ Ј׉E2 GROUNDCOVER NEWS GROUNDCOVER community EVENTS UNARMED RESPONSE PUBLIC FORUM In April 2021, the Ann Arbor City Council passed Resolution R-21129 to develop an unarmed crisis response team. The City of Ann Arbor asked Public Sector Consultants to gather feedback from community members about the best way to create a team of unarmed social and human services professionals to respond to crisis and public safety calls in the city. January 19, 6 p.m. Virtual via Zoom: https://pscinc.co/discuss Meeting ID: 859 4501 3079 Passcode: 090446 UNITED WAY 21-DAY EQUITY CHALLENGE DISCUSSION GROUP Sign-up for the challenge at UWGive.org January 14, 21 and 28, 4 p.m. Booksweet Bookshop, 1720 Plymouth Road MLK and MILITARISM: WHAT WOULD MLK SAY TODAY? MLK declared there were three issues that adversely influenced American Culture: Racism, Extreme Materialism and Militarism. Bob Krzewinski and Bill Shea of local Veterans for Peace chapter 93 will discuss MLK's point of view on Militarism and suggest what he might say about new international militarism and current events. January 16, 6 - 7:30 p.m. Ann Arbor District Library, Multi-Purpose Room NEWS WRITING BEST PRACTICES INTERVIEWING SOURCES AND IMPROVING YOUR ARTICLES TUESDAY, JAN 24, 2023 6:30PM YDL-WHITTAKER 5577 WHITTAKER ROAD WRITING A NEWS STORY TAKES A KEEN EYE AND A LOT OF LISTENING. GET GUIDED PRACTICE INTERVIEWING YOUR SOURCES AND TIPS ON INCORPORATING THEIR THOUGHTS INTO YOUR STORY. YOU'LL ALSO LEARN TO HIGHLIGHT THE MAIN HOOK OF YOUR ARTICLE AND HOW TO WRITE IN A WAY THAT KEEPS EVERYONE READING UNTIL THE LAST LINE. IN PARTNERSHIP WITH YPSIWRITES AND GROUNDCOVER NEWS. QUESTIONS? Call 734-482-4110 X2411. SCAN THE QR CODE TO REGISTER! JANUARY 13, 2023 CREATING OPPORTUNITY AND A VOICE FOR LOW-INCOME PEOPLE WHILE TAKING ACTION TO END HOMELESSNESS AND POVERTY. Groundcover News, a 501(c)(3) organization, was founded in April 2010 as a means to empower lowincome persons to make the transitions from homeless to housed, and from jobless to employed. Vendors purchase each copy of our regular editions of Groundcover News at our office for 50 cents. This money goes towards production costs. Vendors work selling the paper on the street for $2, keeping all income and tips from each sale. Street papers like Groundcover News exist in cities all over the United States, as well as in more than 40 other countries, in an effort to raise awareness of the plight of homeless people and combat the increase in poverty. Our paper is a proud member of the International Network of Street Papers. STAFF Lindsay Calka — publisher Cynthia Price — editor Jim Clark — vendor manager ISSUE CONTRIBUTORS Mira Simonton-Chao Anna Gersh Jan Gombart Alexandra Granberg Mike Jones Emma Lapp Sophia Lupton Will Shakespeare Kaylee Smith Washtenaw GDC Felicia Wilbert GROUNDCOVER NEWS ADVERTISING RATES Size 1/8 1/6 1/4 1/2 full page Black/White $110.00 $145.00 $200.00 $375.00 $650.00 Color $150.00 $200.00 $265.00 $500.00 $900.00 Dimensions (W x H in inches) 5 X 3 or 2.5 X 6.5 5 X 4 5 X 6.25 5 X 13 or 10.25 X 6.5 10.25 X 13 VOLUNTEERS Jessi Averill Luiza Duarte Caetano Glenn Gates Alex Granberg Robert Klingler Mira Simonton-Chao Mary Wisgerhof Max Wisgerhof Claude VanValkenburg Navya Yagalla PROOFREADERS Susan Beckett Elliot Cubit Anabel Sicko Sandy Smith @groundcover @groundcovernews DONATE, PITCH A STORY + LEARN MORE www.groundcovernews.org linktr.ee/groundcovernews PACKAGE PRICING Three Months/Six Issues: 15% off Six Months/Twelve Issues: 25% off Full Year/Twenty-four Issues: 35% off Only run for two weeks/one issue: 40% off Additional 20% discount for money saving coupons CONTACT US Story and photo submissions: submissions@groundcovernews.com Advertising and partnerships: contact@groundcovernews.com Office: 423 S. 4th Ave., Ann Arbor Mon-Sat, 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Phone: 734-263-2098 ׉ 7cassandra://2B-szvwJKf2crpmxt6CIM2NqH4JRKgZhQ9rj9Y-Ht6wN`duvFז0?HQ׉E-JANUARY 13, 2023 ON MY CORNER ASK YOUR VENDOR What would make Ann Arbor a better place for all families to live? Earlier this year, Fortune magazine ranked Ann Arbor first on its list of the nation's "best places to live for families."Concetrate magazine responded to this ranking by publishing an article that asked 12 Ann Arbor residents and leaders the question: "What would make Ann Arbor a better place for all families to live?" Jessica Letaw, community activist and advocate for housing and affordability, responded, "I’d be more interested in how Groundcover News would rate Ann Arbor; and I’d be excited to attract to our community the people who think that kind of coverage counts." More housing for the "missing middle." — James Manning, #16 Actually affordable housing. — Ken Parks, #490 Everybody to be loving and caring and don’t recognize color, because we all come the same place. — Felicia Wilbert, #234 Get rid of the crooked mayor. Don’t let people who are rich control everything. — Schillington Morgan, #148 Make it more affordable. — Fred Allen, #170 Continuity within the community — especially between the homeless and non-homeless community. — Kevin Claypool, #584 Better affordability across the board. — Mike Jones, #113 Child support is a B! I got word that the Wayne County Sheriff came to my house with a child support warrant for my arrest. I wasn’t home at the time. The next day I gave them a call and talked to some Wayne County detective. He explained to me I had a warrant and I needed to just turn myself in to the 36th District Court to be arraigned and I would be released. The next day I did just that, driving my girlfriend's Jeep to downtown Detroit to the 36th District Court house. I walked in and before you knew it I realized I couldn’t just leave. I was in a court chambers, a jail cell. The judge sentenced me to 30 days for contempt of court or whatever. Mind you my girlfriend's jeep is outside in a paid parking lot in downtown Detroit and would soon be towed away. I had to make a collect call to my girlfriend to tell her about me getting locked up for 30 days and she needed to come get her Jeep before it got towed away. Wayne County Jail and Washtenaw County Jail are two completely different places state of Michigan. I met guys from Hawaii, Florida, Wisconsin and other states.That was in 2004. In 2007, there was another child MIKE JONES Groundcover vendor No. 113 — Washtenaw County Jail is Disneyland compared to Wayne County Jail. In Washtenaw County Jail you got a couch, big screen TVs, you can order Big Macs. Wayne County Jail is just a jail that rhymes with hell. Because that’s what it is. I was placed on the 13th floor, cell 1308. I will never forget that cell number. There I met a lot of people from all over the country. In Michigan, a person can be charged for felony non-child support, and if you try to leave the state or reside out of state, you will receive a free flight courtesy of the U.S. Marshals back to the support warrant for my arrest from the Wayne County Sheriff. Back in court again, this time at the Coleman A. Young Building on the 19th floor, the building on Woodward and Jefferson you see on the Detroit local news all the time. This time my girlfriend came to court with me. Once again I was found in contempt of court and sentenced to 45 days in the county jail. I was sent to the Dickerson facility on the eastside of Detroit, where I served 30 days and was then released and that was my last time being incarcerated. 76% of non-custodial fathers with children under the age of 19 pay child support in the United States. The state child support office in Michigan provides services for more than 830,000 children and families. There is a lot I don’t like about the Michigan child support system but one good thing I got out of the whole process was ACCOUNTABILITY. GROUNDCOVER NEWS 3 Truth or lies: The blessings Mrs. Levan Flora had just celebrated her 100th birthday in her South Carolina home. However, she was feeling anxious. She had worked as a nurse and caretaker up until the age of 78. Her husband had passed away when she was 80, leaving her alone. She never bore any children, but they did adopt a daughter who was now also deceased. Her daughter never had a chance for a family; she was in a fatal auto accident returning home from school. Levan always believed that she What would YOU ask? If you have a question you would like Groundcover vendors to answer in this column, email us at contact@groundcovernews.com We will be featuring vendor responses in future issues. would be reunited with them in heaven. She had outlived all of her relatives. Levan could still get around and occasionally would sneak off and drive her golf cart to the mall across the street from her estate. She was blessed to be able to still comprehend things and did not have body illness or dementia; she just walked slowly. Her butler and maid were still employed after 35 years and they often assisted her with keeping track of her estate. She was wealthy and had been stressing over who she would leave her wealth to. The very next morning Levan FELICIA WILBERT Groundcover vendor No. 234 was up early feeling refreshed and eating a hearty breakfast. She was thinking about her dream, not wanting to say anything about it to her help. Levan had decided to slowly withdraw her money from the bank and get as much cash as possible. After going to the bank she snuck off to the mall and purchased all the blankets she could. Levan kept this routine for the Levan did not attend church services ever since her husband passed away. She still prayed and believed in God, knowing she would meet with her family in heaven. One day Levan was feeling happy — bedtime came quickly that day, for she could turn off her mind and sleep. After she said her prayers she went to bed, still wondering who she would leave her wealth to. Levan started to dream about God instructing her to give all her wealth away in order to enter the gates of heaven. God also told her, “You shall know who to give your home to when the time comes.” next three weeks. However one day when she next arrived at the mall, there was a family of five holding signs. The man held a sign stating that he had lost his job and they were homeless. “Please help.” Not even considering her safety, she knew God wanted her to help them. Levan did not hesitate; she pulled up to the family in her golf cart and asked how she could help them. The man, Jack, introduced himself and his family. He then asked her if she had any work he could do to earn money for his family. Levan introduced see BLESSINGS page 10  duvFז0?HQduvFז0?HQ בCט u׉׉ 7cassandra://1kT0aAEuU0GK1SG_ouVPL8-q1-21qKjQKDBggkBvhU4:`I׉ 7cassandra://jbiN5RENuLC3RELKyNZLzhwleGIsBA1DyMvB0Wxu_PAz`׉ 7cassandra://7087hcKFWmumu_qiMYS3D5vLO6DKMkMQ8DWH1mikqtMO`׉ 7cassandra://01esH6CRQdPRls0I5HyO4FEiFuBVhMuDahFXnzpQ21g'͠ iduwFז0?HRנduwFז0?HR +"9׉H!http://mbc.studentlife.umich.edu/Gׁ ׁ rנduwFז0?HR +%9ׁH!http://mbc.studentlife.umich.edu/ׁ ׁ Ј׉E 4 GROUNDCOVER NEWS COMMUNITY RESOURCES WASHTENAW GENERAL DEFENSE COMMITTEE On December 4, 2022 the Love Stand, a free food stand in Depot Town, was shut down by the City of Ypsilanti due to citations of blight and incorrect zoning. The owner and operator of the stand failed to pull necessary permits, including historic district commission and zoning permits. Zoning — specifically historic zones — are weaponized to protect the property values of homeowners and business owners by keeping poor people out of those areas. These "health and safety" spatial regulations were originally implemented in the United States to designate safe areas for white people to own property, segregated from the rest of the community. As fuel prices skyrocket, so does the price of everything else. Most food types (dairy, meat and produce) have inflated by more than 10% over the past year alone. The price of eggs has inflated more than 30%. To no one's surprise, wages have stayed relatively the same, forcing individuals and families to live more precariously just to access basic needs. Food pantries are essential resources, but oftentimes they are only open at specific times and days. The Love Stand was a key resource in Ypsilanti as a 24/7 access point for free food. Community members were witnessed using the stand constantly — from the middle of the day to the middle of the night. After an initial news blast reporting on the ordered closure, community members responded with overwhelming frustration with the city, showing the need for such a resource. We had a community resource. The city ordered the removal of that community resource. We will continue to organize to protect access to free food in our community. We invite all community members acting in good faith to participate in stocking, maintaining and gathering from open-access free food pantries at 169 N. Washington St. (immediately north of the Ypsilanti Transit Center) and 706 Davis St. (Peace House Ypsi). Details of where to access more food pantries and free hot meals in Washtenaw County can be found in the Washtenaw Street Survival Guide. PROTECT FOOD ACCESS! Solidarity Pantry is a 24/7 access outdoor food pantry located at 169 N. Washington St., Ypsilanti. JANUARY 13, 2023 Food should be free! Ypsi shutters the Love Stand ׉ 7cassandra://7087hcKFWmumu_qiMYS3D5vLO6DKMkMQ8DWH1mikqtMO`duvFז0?HQ׉EJANUARY 13, 2023 AGENCY SPOTLIGHT Down Maynard Street, a welcoming stand points towards the back entrance of Betsy Barbour Residence Hall: “Maize and Blue Cupboard — Walk This Way!” Walking in, I am greeted with smiles and pleasantries by volunteers who are students just like me. I am given a brown bag to hold whichever shelved food items I would like, along with a sample of pre-made overnight oats. I am even given a recipe for the oats on a small slip of paper, with a list of all the ingredients I can also get from the pantry. The Maize and Blue Cupboard is a student-organized food pantry that provides food, household supplies and resource support for the University of Michigan community. Their mission is to ensure that all members of the University can receive equitable access to healthy, nutritious and nourishing food and can prepare it for themselves or others. To learn more about the Cupboard, I spoke with Keith Soster, Director of Food Sustainability and Student Community Engagement. The Maize and Blue Cupboard was initiated in 2011 by university SOPHIA LUPTON U-M student contributor shoppers per week. Who does the pantry serve, and who are the shoppers? The Cupboard is targeted to anyone with an MCard, but Soster also points out, “We will not turn anyone away. If somebody in the Ann Arbor community were to come in, we are going to allow them to shop and we are also going to give them a list of resources in Ann Arbor.” These resources range from students Wesley Zhu and Forrest Burczak. Soster explained their foundational goal is to alleviate food insecurity on campus by offering food to those students, faculty and staff in need. In order to reduce the stigma often associated with food insecurity, the name Maize and Blue Cupboard was chosen specifically to be inviting to all. “Sometimes [the name of] food banks and pantries can prevent people from utilizing its services,” noted Soster. Over the last couple of years, the number of shoppers has continually increased to about seven hundred Maize & Blue Cupboard creamy carrot soup MIRA SIMONTON-CHAO Groundcover contributor Ingredients: 1 yellow onion 1 or 2 fresh carrots ¼ bag frozen carrots ¼ bag of a different frozen vegetable, ideally root or squash 2 tsp vegetable or chicken boullion 1 tsp salt 1 can coconut milk Pepper to taste Any other vegetables Directions: Coarsely chop vegetables. Heat a large pot on medium-high heat with butter or oil. Add yellow onion and saute for 3-5 mins. Add the cut carrots, frozen carrots, and other frozen vegetable of your choosing to the pot with 1 cup of water. Add chicken boullion, salt, some cracked pepper to taste and 1 tsp cumin (optional). Add can of coconut milk— if you don’t have coconut milk you can use about 1 cup of heavy cream or milk. Simmer until large carrots are soft. Ladle 1-2 cups into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour the blended mixture into a different pot or bowl. Repeat until you have a full pot of yummy creamy carrot squash soup. Other veggies you could add to the mix: celery, a small amount of potato, any kind of fresh squash (I would recommend baking this before blending), and ginger! churches that serve hot meals to housing insecurity programs. So if you are a non-University of Michigan community member, you are still welcome at the Maize and Blue Cupboard. Moreover, you will be provided with additional resources that are provided in Ann Arbor if you are in need of additional help or social services. Although Soster’s work is to connect the Cupboard to other departmental resources across campus, he is quick to note that it is a team effort. “Students play a big part in the operations of it all,” explains Soster. “It's amazing how many people come in to volunteer. We usually see more donations or volunteers [during the GROUNDCOVER NEWS Tackling food insecurity with Maize and Blue holiday season], just because people get in the spirit of giving, and I think that's awesome. I'm really excited about that.” The Maize and Blue Cupboard is open from 3-7 p.m. Monday through Friday, except for Wednesday when it opens at noon. It not only runs during the fall and winter semesters, but the Cupboard continues to operate in the summer as well. They also offer mobile deliveries if people are unable to come to the central campus location. Whether you are struggling with food security, just need a little assistance getting back on your feet, or would like to lend your own helping hand and volunteer, reach out to the University of Michigan’s Maize and Blue Cupboard! As for me, I returned to my dorm with a brown bag of groceries, proud to be at a university with a food pantry that provides to any and all a full stomach, a smile and a warmed heart. mbc.studentlife.umich.edu/ 420 S State St., Ann Arbor 734-936-2794 Easy tomato beef pasta EMMA LAPP U-M student contributor Ingredients: Neutral oil 16 oz can of canned spaghetti sauce or tomato sauce 1 lb. package of ground beef Whatever type of pasta you want — I prefer to make this dish with garganelli Cheese (mozzarella or parmesan is great) 2 tsp Italian seasoning Salt and pepper to taste Directions: The first thing that you are going to want to do is start to boil the water for the pasta. While the water is boiling, heat up a pan on the stove and add a little bit of oil. Add beef and heat up to a point where it is broken down. While doing this, add seasonings. Hopefully around this time, the water should be boiling so add your choice of pasta to it! Try these recipes from shoppers at Maize and Blue Cupboard that utilize common pantry ingredients! Once the ground beef is looking cooked (brown), open the can of diced tomatoes and add that to the pan with the ground beef. Combine these two together completely, but turn the pan temperature down so that it keeps it just warm and isn’t overcooking the dish. Strain the pasta and add it to the pan with the beef and tomatoes and mix them all together. Add finishing touches (more seasonings, cheese) and serve! 5 duvFז0?HQduvFז0?HQ בCט u׉׉ 7cassandra://Onauknk5x_oVvLRzznbVIRoUMiVOnNsWZG0_6oNeslI`I׉ 7cassandra://owsTWw5skB6asQtQe5bqfenkFLi9kz1q6jNlL5An63M `׉ 7cassandra://ruBSniibhj8676ZDsaSFmC8oxkVJMahHnfI9FpMn390X`׉ 7cassandra://kaK829HWkd-VLcEg6O4oUnpQ62i_qBWv2x8C_qMWuHI@͠ iduwFז0?HR׉E6 GROUNDCOVER NEWS FOOD ACCESS JANUARY 13, 2023 Ken Parks, Groundcover vendor No. 490, is a regular at Argus Farm Stop on Liberty street where he buys groceries with his Bridge Card. Outside, he has deep conversations with some of the other customers while selling Groundcover News. Every Thursday he picks up his produce box. "I could have used some of this when I made my soup earlier," he said as he opened his weekly surprise. Photo credit: Alexandra Granberg. Local food is better — if you can afford it ALEXANDRA GRANBERG Groundcover contributor “Eat your vegetables.“ A platitude perhaps irritatingly linked to memories of your gradeschool teacher or endless nagging at family dinners. But it strikes a chord when you consider that as many as 85% of Americans really don’t eat enough vegetables. That large majority is lacking the vitamins and minerals essential for normal physical and mental development, based on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s recommended daily intake. They are suffering from something called micronutrient deficiency, or hidden hunger. Hidden hunger is a serious public health problem with repercussions beyond the individual. In and of themselves, vitamins don’t contain calories to fill us up when we feel hungry; their absence alone doesn’t lead to malnutrition and weight loss as long as we get enough food of any kind. This makes hidden hunger difficult to detect. But these micronutrients – found in whole foods like beans and vegetables — are vital for maintaining life functions such as the immune system, disease protection and childhood growth. A lack of them can lead to stunted growth, reduced brain function or child and maternal mortality. Not just how much, but what we eat, therefore matters a great deal. Carrot comes to town Dark green and orange vegetables, legumes and whole grains are among the most under-consumed foods worldwide. Thankfully, local food — which rapidly disappeared from our plates with the industrial revolution and subsequent depopulation of rural areas — is coming back around. In Ann Arbor, Argus Farm Stop is spearheading this trend. Their grocery stores/cafes on Liberty and Packard Streets sell only fresh, local products from over 200 producers in the region, year-round. It is a catch-all daily farmer’s market if you will. Though the Ann Arbor Farmers Market offers many of the same products, it is open only twice a week — once a week in the winter. Unlike a traditional retail model, Argus uses a consignment model which allows producers to set their own prices. In this setup, producers keep 70 percent of the sales price of their goods, as opposed to the 15 percent they might get in a traditional retail relationship. This arrangement has helped generate more than $15 million in income for local producers since 2014. This is all good. Small, local businesses can provide an opportunity for communities to take control of their economy. Money spent at local businesses is more likely to stay in the community, and the wealth created is less likely to end up as over-inflated corporate profit. Local producers also tend to care more about the impact their products have on a community, as they are part of that community themselves. With food, this often means less of the harmful chemicals and toxic sprays otherwise used in the industry — better for local ecosystems and biodiversity, and for human health. Transportation routes are radically shortened, leaving much smaller carbon footprints. And wider access to healthy, fresh and seasonal products – in Ann Arbor seven days a week thanks to Argus — means more people get to enjoy these goodies. In other words, locally grown food benefits most people. But in one important aspect it benefits some more than others. Double hunger, triple burden In Washtenaw County an estimated 38,470 people are experiencing food insecurity — meaning they lack the economic means to buy enough food — according to Feeding America. More than 33 million people nationwide, about 10% of Americans, are food-insecure according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Food insecurity among Black and Hispanic people is close to double that, 19.8% and 16.2% respectively. The modern, high-sugar, low-nutrient diet is shared by almost every one of us — 85% evidently — including those who could afford better food. But it affects the least affluent most. When we talk about food security, we often mean access to enough quantities of food to fill stomachs. While this might meet the most acute need, hidden hunger is growing. Not only do people who experience food insecurity typically consume fewer calories overall, on average they eat half as much fruit as someone who is food secure. Proteins and whole grain products are also frequently missing from an already sparse diet. see LOCAL page 11  ׉ 7cassandra://ruBSniibhj8676ZDsaSFmC8oxkVJMahHnfI9FpMn390X`duvFז0?HQ׉EJANUARY 13, 2023 IN THE CLASSROOM GROUNDCOVER NEWS Opening young minds to critical issues of nutrition in difficult circumstances ANNA GERSH Groundcover board member The readers of this publication already understand many of the challenges faced by homeless and near-homeless people. That’s what this paper is here to do, but it’s important to discuss these issues with everyone, not just those folks who read newspapers. We know that to meaningfully address the problems of our many fellow humans who live in poverty, we need every mind directed toward these issues as early as possible! That’s why Groundcover News visited Eastern Michigan University’s Bright Futures after school program at Wildwood Elementary School. We asked Mr. Brett’s 2nd through 5th-graders to think about nutrition and staying healthy when there is no refrigerator or a stove to protect and prepare food. We asked the kids what they thought would be the ideal food for someone who moved around a lot and didn’t have a reliable place to store their food. We talked about foods with high levels of nutrition, foods that help our bodies stay warm (and keep cool!), and food that keeps well over long periods of time. After our brainstorming sessions and discussion, the kids spent some time thinking about and then drawing what they saw as the best foods to meet those criteria. When we returned to see what they came up with, the kids shared their ideas in a special presentation. Thanks so much to Mr. Brett and all our new friends at Bright Futures at Wildwood ES for your great thinking on this important topic! Top left: Ellie is participating in Mr. Brett's brainstorming activity. Top right: Sammy, Xavier and Shawn participate in the creation process. Bottom left: Sammy recommends an orange because it stays clean and has lots of vitamin C. Bottom right: Alana recommends yams, chicken and mac'n' cheese. Abby suggests watermelon because its very tasty. They are pictured working on brainstorm activity. 7 duvFז0?HQduvFז0?HQ בCט u׉׉ 7cassandra://NyW7UdcMk3dNLkuNHvVY1W85iapm5Y4qMvV0G1jClG0 3`I׉ 7cassandra://0k6g0Q0h9V5BMhEBHzMMzdFjbn0ODfpMrSXiKgd1pEc3{`׉ 7cassandra://VOS4BpPhMaTWSg3ycYdS3OkJXD8UMn-uiQf0HuWAxscR>`׉ 7cassandra://LTFg_-uOkToZvPudl7pDYYcyXvB_VhFHDi-cocJnwP0(`͠ iduxFז0?HR"נduwFז0?HR  ̩9׉H/https://oami.umich.edu/um-mlk-symposium/events/Gׁ ׁ rנduwFז0?HR! .9׉H/https://oami.umich.edu/um-mlk-symposium/events/Gׁ ׁ rנduxFז0?HR& ̩9ׁHhttps://oami.umׁ ׁ Ј׉E8 GROUNDCOVER NEWS MLK DAY JANUARY 13, 2023 The evolution and revolution of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — from segregation to equality On January 16, 2023, the University of Michigan and the metropolitan community of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti will celebrate the life and accomplishments of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The University of Michigan has one of the largest MLK birthday celebrations in the nation. U-M’s MLK events formally started in 1986 on the Ann Arbor campus. Today, the Dearborn and Flint campuses have become integral components of Dr. King’s birthday celebration. In addition to the January 16 events on U-M campuses, there are also significant events to celebrate MLK's birthday at Eastern Michigan University, Concordia College, Washtenaw Community College, and the public school systems of Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Lincoln Consolidated, Willow-Run, Dexter, Saline and Chelsea, as well as most of the major towns and townships in Washtenaw County. What is the Michigan connection to Dr. King’s birthday celebration? Four days after the assassination of Dr. King on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, Michigan Congressman John Conyers introduced a bill in the House of Representatives to honor Dr. King with a federal holiday on his birthday. Conyers's bill was reintroduced in Congress year after year. The MLK Federal Holiday Bill was eventually approved in the Senate (78-22) and President Ronald Wilson Reagan signed it into law in 1983. Michigan was among the first states to celebrate MLK as a federal holiday. Some states, such as Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Arizona refused to honor King on the third Monday of January as prescribed by the 1983 legislation. But America’s civil rights advocates and millions of ordinary citizens persevered. By the year 2000, all 50 states in the United States had chosen to make the MLK federal holiday a state government holiday, too. Furthermore, University of Michigan Professor Emeritus of Architecture and Afro-American Studies, Dr. James Chaffers, was invited to serve on the National Design Council for Dr. King’s Memorial Statue, located near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. In 2023, the University of Michigan’s theme for its annual symposium at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor is: “The (R) EVOLUTION OF MLK FROM SEGREGATION TO ELEVATION.” The Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives and the School of Business are the primary planners of U-M’s MLK Symposium events. They have defined “EVOLUTION” as the gradual process WILL SHAKESPEARE Groundcover vendor No. 258 of development and/or diversification from earlier realities, especially from simple to more complexity. The concept of “REVOLUTION” is defined as a forcible, sudden or complete change in favor of a new system. I intend to present Dr. King’s evolution from his birth to his staggering impact as a civil rights leader, struggling against segregation in the southern and northern regions of America. Dr. King had a dream that he said, “was rooted in the American dream.” After the basic anti-discrimination civil right laws and the voting rights law were passed respectively in 1964 and 1965, Dr. King called for genuine equality in income opportunities, non-discriminatory fair/open housing policies, socio-economic advancement, healthcare access and equity, and educational access and equity. The bottom-line is that Dr. King called for an equitable and inclusive multiracial democracy which strives for a “more perfect union” through an implementation of the constitutional Bill of Rights and the key preambles of the July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence —“We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, and among them are the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” After the Keynote Speech at the U-M Hill Auditorium by Dr. Aletta Maybank, Chief Equity Officer and Vice President of the American Medical Association, U-M Distinguished University Professor of History and Public Policy, Dr. Earl Lewis will moderate the conversations on equity, diversity and inclusion. Mr. Jalen Rose, former U-M and NBA basketball player and founder of the Jalen Rose Leadership academy, and Mr. Edward Buckles, director and documentary film producer will join the conversation at Hill Auditorium. Specific topics may include Black excellence, poverty solutions, campus climate, healthcare disparities, economic inequality, unequal Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. pictured with his wife Coretta Scott King, son Martin Luther King III and daughter Yolanda Denise King. They had two other children, Dexter Scott and Bernice Albertine King. Photo credit: Parade. educational access and resources, racial injustice, wealth gap, school achievement gap, career achievement gap, homelessness, mass incarceration and criminal justice reform. A Brief History of Dr. King’s Evolution Dr. King was born on January 15, 1929 in the segregated southern city of Atlanta. His baptismal name was Michael King, not Martin Luther King. His dad was a renowned pastor of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church who traveled to Germany in 1934. History. com editors said that Dr. King’s dad was “inspired by the Protestant Reformation Leader, Martin Luther.” As a result, King Sr. changed his own name as well as that of his six-year old son. Historians say that Dr. King entered College at the age of 15. He attended a Divinity School in Pennsylvania known as Crozer Theological Seminary, following his graduation from Morehouse College at the age of 19. After he received his Divinity Degree from Crozer, he enrolled at Boston University. Dr. King majored in Systematic Theology and his doctorate was awarded in 1955 — one year after the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of Linda Brown and overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court decision of 1896. That decision said that Separate but Equal was the law of the land. In May 1954, Chief Justice Earl Warren and other members of SCOTUS said that Plessy was wrongly decided. The Brown decision was momentous! After about six decades of separate and unequal law, African Americans looked forward to a more equal, tolerant and inclusive society. In 1955, Dr. King was appointed pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama after the previous pastor, Rev. Dr. Vernon John, left. That same year, Dr. King became one of the leaders of the Montgomery Improvement Association which worked with community leaders such as Ms. Rosa Parks to undertake the Bus Boycott of December, 1955.The Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted for more than one year before the local civil rights group achieved a durable victory. On May 17, 1957, King gave a speech before an audience estimated between 15,000 and 30,000. History.com noted that Dr. King’s speech “drew strong reviews and positioned him in the forefront of the civil rights leadership.” Dr. King was nearly assassinated in Harlem, New York City, on September 20, 1958. He was at a signing ceremony for his first book, titled “Strides Toward Freedom” at Blumstein’s department store. He was approached by a mentally deranged woman named Izolia Ware Curry. She asked Dr. King if he was really Martin Luther King. After he said yes, the woman proceeded to say that she had been looking for him for five years, and she stabbed Dr. King in thee chest with a 7-inch knife. King underwent an emergency surgery. The doctors told him that the blade came so close to his aorta that one sneeze could have punctured the aorta and killed him instantly. A little white girl from White Plains High School sent a very kind letter to Dr. King telling him that she read the newspaper story, and was happy to learn that he did not sneeze. That letter can be located at the Morehouse College’s central archives of Dr. King’s papers. Dr. King also talked about it in his April 3, 1968 “Mountaintop Speech.” The second major assassination attempt on King’s life took place in Memphis. King arrived in Memphis to see MLK next page  ׉ 7cassandra://VOS4BpPhMaTWSg3ycYdS3OkJXD8UMn-uiQf0HuWAxscR>`duvFז0?HR׉E2JANUARY 13, 2023 PUZZLES  MLK from last page support a strike staged by the Black Garbage Workers Union. On the wet and stormy night of April 3, 1968, King was feeling a little cold, but he summoned enough energy and strength to deliver the “Mountaintop speech” at Mason Temple Church of Memphis. He was prophetic when he preached, “ … like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now … I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. And I’m happy tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I am not afraid of any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the Lord.” The next day, around 6 p.m., April 4, 1968 Dr. King was assassinated while standing on the balcony of his second floor room at the Lorraine Motel by a career criminal named James Earl Ray. Dr. King’s family refused to believe that Mr. Ray acted alone. Dr. King’s Revolutionary Spirit, Impacts and Legacy Many historians cannot say for sure when Dr. King’s revolutionary spirit started. However, the change of his name from Michael King to Martin Luther King when he was about six years old was a major change in his young life. Enrolling in college at the tender age of 15 in the segregated South may have contributed to his revolutionary spirit. Obviously, having Pastor Martin Luther King Sr. as a dad and a role model could have fired up Dr. King’s revolutionary spirit. We do know that King had read most of the Great Books before his death. Dr. King was a voracious consumer of knowledge and information. In general, he believed that “the function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character — that is the goal of true education.” King’s 1947 article, published in his college newspaper, The Maroon Tigers, argued that “…education must also train one for quick, resolute and effective thinking. To think incisively and to think for one’s self is very difficult. We are prone to let our mental life become invaded by legions of half truths, prejudices and propaganda. At this point, I often wonder whether or not education is fulfilling its purpose. A great majority of the so-called educated people do not think logically and scientifically. Even the press, the classroom, the platform, and the pulpit in many instances, do not give the objective and unbiased truths.” Stanford University’s Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute published Dr. King’s 1947 College article, with the title, “The Purpose of Education.” Dr. King also said, “…To save man from the morass of propaganda, in my opinion, is one of the chief aims of education. Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from fiction … But education which stops with efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society. The most dangerous criminal may be a man gifted with reason, but with no morals.” This writer believes that Dr. King experienced a great revolution of the mind and spirit while studying at Morehouse College in Atlanta. We know that he loved to read, think and reflect. He was knowledgeable about the writings of ancient civilizations in Egypt, the Holy Land and Greece. He was familiar with writings about the Roman Empire and the Renaissance era. He was aware of the voluminous work of Germany’s Martin Luther who embarked on the reformation of the Christian Church. Dr. King was influenced by the writing and oratory of the legendary abolitionist, Fredrick Douglass. King was knowledgeable about the work of anti-slavery activists such as David Walker’s “Appeal,” Harriet Tubman’s Underground Railroad, William Lloyd Garrison’s “The Liberator,” W.E.B. DuBois's “Souls of Black Folk” and Booker T. Washington’s Black development strategies to mention a few. Dr. King left a legacy of non-violent direct action for social change, a life of service and activism, inclusive multiracial democracy, resilience and perseverance, community self-analysis of value choices and world-mindedness. We encourage our readers to watch the video “The Other America” and to listen to the “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” and “What is Your Life’s Blueprint?” speeches on Youtube. Because race still matters in American life, culture and society, we do encourage our readers to view the video of Dr. Cornel West's 2002 speech titled “Race Matters.” It was delivered as the Jessie and John Danz Lecture at the University of Washington in Seattle. There have been noticeable improvements in society since the late 1960s. The nation is more diverse and more prosperous. However, issues of racism, poverty, inequality, inequity and inclusivity are still problematic. In the cold winter of 2014, some homeless people in Washtenaw County froze to death. It’s much better today. In Los Angeles, five homeless people die every night. There are still more than 44,000 people who are experiencing homelessness on the streets of Los Angeles. Mayor Karen Bass got the city council to pass “A Homeless EmerGROUNDCOVER NEWS 9 LOGIC PUZZLE BY JAN GOMBART 1. Create an eight-digit number using the digits 4, 4, 3, 3, 2, 2, 1, 1. Make sure the ones are separated by one digit, the twos are separated by two digits the threes are separated with three digits and the fours are separated by four digits. What is the number? gency Ordinance.” Most urban counties in America are faced with similar shelter and health emergencies. What would Dr. King say? He would want us to declare a national emergency now. Enough partisan politics! Enough NIMBY policy debates and public hearings!! Action now to save lives!! Learn more and articipate in the conversation: https://oami.umich. edu/um-mlk-symposium/events/ duvFז0?HRduvFז0?HR בCט u׉׉ 7cassandra://PQpBUdc-hXEd1yRGzHWVM_tPrsEVDyAHSovbC_i-SNE `I׉ 7cassandra://x7uJcXJTeoFUBvCRaaEAIkxVMX0c2JpNS69YRLsl0IE1`׉ 7cassandra://b-lSeSt-E6O1tUsGDWZp_TAUIu85IKzm95i7eNfMqTAP*`׉ 7cassandra://mBG3LDkMVq8CVwtZTtUv1v3sHp5IXpz-kak7S2E93ZM(͠ iduyFז0?HR'׉E!10 GROUNDCOVER NEWS AFFORDABILITY Eating out on $20 a day in Ann Arbor The city of Ann Arbor is well-known for having a lot of good eats, but it is not necessarily known for being affordable. As someone who is new to Ann Arbor and also happens to be a broke college student, I wanted to explore the city, try out the famous food and do it all on a budget. My goal was to find three different places to eat, all within walking distance of the campus; one for breakfast, one for lunch and one for dinner, and do it all while spending only twenty dollars. I found that for breakfast there are a lot of large chains where you can get something affordable to eat, but I had somewhat of a harder time finding an affordable breakfast meal from a local restaurant. The place I did end up finding is called RoosRoast. This cute little cafe has two locations, one walkable located downtown on East Liberty St. and one that is a bit further from campus. The RoosRoast located on Rosewood St. has an extensive drink menu along with a good selection of breakfast items and pastries. I decided KAYLEE SMITH U-M student contributor to go with their “duh bagel sandwich” made up of a fresh everything bagel topped with cheddar cheese and cream cheese for only $4.50. This sandwich was the right call, filling and delicious. Lunch and dinner were my favorite parts of the day. There were so many options for these meals it was hard to narrow them down, but I did my best. For lunch, I decided to go with Joe’s Pizza, an Ann Arbor staple. Joe’s is a New York-style pizza place located on Central Campus on South University Avenue. There are multiple Joe’s Pizza locations in the world. The restaurant originated in New York City and the Ann Arbor location is one of the only restaurants not located in New York City, the others being in China. There is a limited menu, and by limited I mean the only option is pizza, but in my opinion that is all you need for a delicious lunch. There are seven different kinds of pizza and a slice ranges from $3 for a cheese slice to $4.75 for Caprese and supreme. I decided to go with plain cheese because not only is it the most budget-friendly option, but it is also my favorite. The restaurant is set up uniquely. You walk up to the counter and tell the worker which slice you want and they stick it right in the oven for you. The slice comes out hot and perfectly crispy. For dinner, I tried No Thai! which was voted Ann Arbor's best Asian restaurant. It is located near Pinball Pete’s at South University. The majority of the dishes are $12. First, you choose your dish, such as pad Thai or drunken noodles. Second, you pick your protein. You can choose between chicken, beef, tofu, or for an extra dollar, shrimp. Lastly, you select your spice level. The options are no spice, weak sauce, medium, yoga flame, or dim mak. I decided to go with the Pad Thai with chicken and weak sauce. This meal did not disappoint. It came out steaming hot and fresh. While it is on the pricier side of this list, the portion size is fairly large and I had a good amount left over. Although restaurants in Ann Arbor do not come across as affordable, there are some worthwhile budget-friendly options. If I were to rank the restaurants I visited based on flavor and price I would put No Thai! at the top of the list, followed by Joe’s and lastly, RoosRoast. For the full day of eating I was able to stick to the $20 budget and have a good time while doing it. Ann Arbor is a great place to venture out and try new things! JANUARY 13, 2023  BLESSINGS from page 3 herself and answered yes while looking at his pregnant wife. She asked their names again and explained that they could go over to her estate and wait for her while she shopped. She then asked Jack to assist her while she shopped so they could talk more. Levan told the wife Rebecca to tell the butler, Ronald, to prepare food and she would be home soon. The first thing she did in the mall was go to the pay phone and call Ronald and inform him to assist the family in any way possible. She visited all of the stores that sold blankets, once again purchasing them all. While helping, Jack said, “Wow! Do you really need all of those blankets?” Levan answered, “Yes, and you shall see I need even more than this.” Jack shook his head and kept carrying the bags and packed them into the golf cart. Finally the shopping spree was over and Leven asked how he lost his job. Jack stated that he had worked for Fry’s Electronics and the company just shut down without giving a warning to its employees. Levan remembered hearing about it on the local news. “Where do you and your family sleep at night?” she asked. “We stay in a hotel when we can afford it and in our family van. We park at the truck stops when we can. The children have not attended school this year due to our situation,” Jack stated. “I have been applying for jobs. However, I have to get messages and our mail through the shelter." "What kind of work would you have for me?” he asked. Levan smiled and said, “Don't worry about that. We must get you and your family secure first, then you can work for me.” She knew that he was an honest man who valued his family and worked hard to take care of them. Returning home she was tired, but she knew she had to make sure his wife was comfortable. Levan fed the family then took them to her guest house in the back of her estate and gave them the keys. The husband and wife hugged each other with tears of gratitude in their eyes. Levan said that they would talk about work the next day, that they should just get settled and rest up for a big day. She then retired to her room knowing her work still wasn't done. She closed her bedroom door and continued her assignment. That night she dreamed God was happy with the decision she made to help the family; however, the voice in her dream said once again to give away all her wealth. Arising the next morning, she knew she did not have a lot of time to get the job done. Feeling that the angels were awaiting her arrival, she pushed herself to continue her mission. At breakfast she told the couple that they would inherit her house and part of her money. Jack and Rebecca both said they could not accept and asked where her family was. Levan explained how she had no family members left, and this was the best solution for her problem. She then asked the family if they could assist her Saturday morning passing out all the blankets at the shelters. They said they would be happy to help with the blankets. Levan then showed them the estate and informed Jack of the business she owned that would be his – Paul's Hardware, located two miles from the house in the next shopping district. Jack cried and thanked God for his blessing from Mrs. Flora. Levan called a notary to meet with them at dinner. She already had her documents ready. When the notary arrived, she wrote a new will and testament and was happy that she had done what God asked of her. She left the estate, the hardware store, all her automobiles and three million dollars to the family she took in. She also left her butler and maid one million each. The only job left was Saturday morning giving out the blankets. Jack, Rebecca and the children - passed out over 2,000 blankets that weekend. Levan was excited and happy they were with her, especially the children. Monday morning came and Levan was bedridden, feeling weak and exhausted. However, she knew her work was done. She called Rebecca into her room and gave her a jewelry box containing all her jewelry. She took off her wedding band and handed it to her. Levan said, “My mother passed this to me for my wedding. This is for your daughter.” Rebecca was thinking how she did not have a daughter, only three sons. Levan smiled and said, “Remember this is for her.” Rebecca thanked her for everything and asked Levan if she wanted to call for the doctor. Levan smiled and said, “My doctor has already informed me it's my time to come home. Don't bother, I will be fine.” That night Levan passed away in her sleep. When the family went to check on her she was laying in her bed smiling. They were sad she left them so quickly; they had just met her and she blessed them beyond belief! That evening Rebecca decided to watch the news. The breaking report was how a family gave out blankets to the poor with $2,500 tucked inside each blanket. Four months later Rebecca did have a daughter and named her Levan; Rebecca understood what Levan’s mission was. The Christmas Miracle, published Decemeber 15, was LIES. ׉ 7cassandra://b-lSeSt-E6O1tUsGDWZp_TAUIu85IKzm95i7eNfMqTAP*`duvFז0?HR׉ExJANUARY 13, 2023 AFFORDABILITY  LOCAL from page 6 And as if going hungry is not bad enough, people who live with food insecurity often face the triple burden of malnutrition: a combination of under-nutrition (too few calories), being overweight (too many bad calories, often from junk food) and micronutrient deficiency – hidden hunger. This is a dual problem of availability and cost. “Food deserts” are areas without access to grocery stores or affordable food. While this is often a problem in rural and remote areas, it also affects city dwellers. Sometimes food insecurity can even be more widespread in cities than in rural and suburban areas. For someone who can barely afford to feed themselves at all, paying the high price of healthy, nutritious food — like the stuff at farmers markets — is out of reach. Highly processed junk food, on the other hand, is both cheap and widely available. “It’s not just a shortage of calories, it’s a shortage of affordable nutrients,” said Michael Malmberg, Chief Operating Officer at Daily Table, a nonprofit grocery store chain in Massachusetts. When means are sparse, quantity becomes more important than quality. The step to buying a filling burger for a few hard-earned bucks is, understandably, smaller than spending the same amount of money on a bag of kale. A luxury within reach? While local food is better than non-local food in almost every way, it is often not cheap. In fact, the kale from farmer John is almost guaranteed to cost you more than the greens that traveled 1,500 miles to grocery stores in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. This is understandable, as smallscale producers must bear the brunt of large production costs themselves, and organically grown produce naturally has a shorter shelf life. So, who can afford to buy this green gold, supporting a local economy while also feeding their own families with nutritious food to secure a healthier, possibly happier life for them? Food insecure or not, the answer is generally: not nearly everyone. This consumer reality is of course a reflection of the wider economic inequity in the United States. But large food corporations are, by definition, driven by profit and could care less about people. Places like Argus on the other hand — a mission driven business whose stated goal is to “grow our local agricultural economy” — have a greater stake in their community. According to Rosie Estes and Tess Rian, who both work at Argus and feel passionately about the subject, the commitment to expand local food goes hand in hand with increasing food access. “That the two ideals should somehow be incompatible is false,” said Rian. The Double Up Food Bucks program, which started in Detroit and is now offered nationwide, is one attempt at merging the two. The program, initiated by the Ann Arbor-based Fair Food Network, reimburses stores for half the money spent exclusively on fruits and vegetables with federal food assistance funds, using the EBT Bridge Card, once known as food stamps. Since its start in 2009 the Double Up program has helped over 758,000 people across 30 states add more produce to their diet, while also injecting tens of millions of dollars into the local economy. Both the Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor food co-ops participate in the program, as do several farmers markets in the area. (Kroger, Meijer, Busch’s and Walmart do not.) Normally, Bridge Card owners earn one dollar in food credits for every dollar they spend on produce. At Argus the program works slightly differently, where produce bought with the Bridge Card is currently discounted 50 percent. Estes and Rian agree that the most valuable thing a Bridge Card will get you at Argus is the weekly produce box packed with select, fresh produce worth $30, for only $3.75. The price is made possible with a grant from the Michigan Fitness Foundation, in addition to the Double Up half-off deal. In 2022 (until mid-December) $6,766 was spent on these produce boxes using Bridge cards — a total worth of $53,520 spent exclusively on local produce. Counting all Bridge Card purchases at Argus last year, including produce boxes and other Double Up produce, total sales were $71,695. While harder to calculate the value of all food bought through food assistance — due to the Double Up discount on the same card — Estes roughly puts the number around $100,000. Early indicators show these numbers might be on the rise. That would mean local food is reaching more people, advancing both vendors (financially) and residents (health-wise) in the area. In addition to Argus’ mission, owner Kathy Sample also thinks access to healthy, fresh food is important. “We operate with food access clearly in mind and look for ways to improve that.” When funding for the Double Up program ran low, Fair Food Network capped the price of their reimbursement at $20 per day. Instead of simply adapting at the customers’ expense, Argus is investigating new ways to bridge this funding gap. At the time of writing, Argus customers with a Bridge Card can still buy unlimited produce for half price. Any discount over $20 is subsidized by a customer donation program and the owners. “The commitment to provide accessible produce is significant. We need more of that; let’s make that the rule, not the exception,” said Rian. Food communities, unite! Another runner in the race to end hunger in Washtenaw County is Food Gatherers. The food bank and rescue program collects food from several sources and distributes it through food pantries at schools, assisted living communities, the Delonis Center Community Kitchen and other partners — in 2021 an equivalent of 6 million meals. But despite the earnestness of nonprofits like Food Gatherers, or small businesses like Argus, the gap between addressing food insecurity issues and growing the local food economy remains. Estes and Rian think all the pieces are there, they just need to come together. "There is a food access crisis in Washtenaw County, but not enough bridges between the abundant local food scene here and people who need fresh food,” said Estes. “What does our abundance mean if it’s not accessible to everyone?” Estes suggests that a diverse group of local community members is needed “to advocate for and find solutions to these issues — solutions that are easily implemented for both consumers and small businesses.” The Washtenaw Food Policy Council has a Food and Access Policy Action Team, which anyone can join. GROUNDCOVER NEWS 11 Far from everyone in need of food assistance qualifies for the Bridge Card. To reach more people, and “to address issues of equity and food access,” Rian believes we need programs beyond the Double Up program and government structures: “This is where coalition building can really be powerful.” She stresses that the coalitions should be headed by those who are directly affected. That is not going to happen at Whole Foods or any other profit-driven conglomerate, both agree. Instead, the local food community — already intertwined with both food and the local community — need to find where they fit into this equation. There are obstacles. Some are practical; taking on a large infrastructure like expanding the use of Bridge Cards and all the extra work that entails — finding grants, program upkeep and so on — can be demanding for a small business. Financially it can be rough. And venturing into new spheres can feel like a risky business move, when adding up the cost of time, labor and marketing. There are political hurdles, too. Programs like Double Up and the Bridge Card are government funded. “So it is also important to elect politicians who will work to implement stronger food access infrastructure,” said Estes. But ultimately, local food and food access belong together. In fact, Estes thinks ”they can’t be mutually exclusive.” Acknowledging that is the first step. Author’s note: I work at Argus Farm Stop, on Liberty street. I encourage all new customers to come by. duvFז0?HRduvFז0?HR בCטFu׉׉ 7cassandra://k6S3BIZRf9OFIh3UbaL2Hfj0uIGw_RE9VV82TrdPGsM<`׉ 7cassandra://P-RrlyjN8L-H5ZSrVxYodPi2msaSeDhyVbN2xXbQlsox`h׉ 7cassandra://EHb_y3hKzAnR1m3RwLWKow6cpX4tDFmeIMXJ5JOC05c'`׉ 7cassandra://f15LNVCsg6eYunxAdcePJvRzQBhCL9j2mlDNXsnDsXc*͠4duyFז0?HR)נduzFז0?HR,Y&9ׁHhttp://CommuteandWin.orgׁ ׁ Ј׉E12 GROUNDCOVER NEWS POETRY Happy 2023! ANONYMOUS Not abandoning the lessons of year 2022 I welcome you already 2023 Although many think that they have failed because 2022 is gone 2022 in my eyes brought me closer to my goal to not be limited in my Mind, person, often referred to as my personality, character. I see 2023 as the gates of opportunity For the time 2022 has carried me with and through, on out of it! I have come, privileged to write this testament Will you agree? Oh! I know that we have not accepted the most beautiful, powerful parts of us! We just at times are entranced by a gaze pretending not to look as we peek At what is more beautiful, most worthy to contemplate! Not even imagine, Can not see Oh! How much 2023 means to me. Happy New Year!!!! TWO RECIPES ON PAGE 5: Creamy carrot soup and Easy tomato beef pasta Logic puzzle solution: 41312432 JANUARY 13, 2023 PUZZLE SOLUTIONS Conquer the Cold is Back! The challenge returns January 10–February 10, 2023! Register now at CommuteandWin.org #OwnWinter @getdowntown The getDowntown Program provides commuting programs and services to downtown Ann Arbor employees and employers. A program of TheRide, getDowntown's partners include the City of Ann Arbor and the Ann Arbor DDA. ׉ 7cassandra://EHb_y3hKzAnR1m3RwLWKow6cpX4tDFmeIMXJ5JOC05c'`duvFז0?HR׈EduvFז0?HRduvFז0?HR ,January 13, 2023duk?UŎ|