NPR:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture released a document yesterday that got no attention on the nightly news, or almost anywhere, really. Its title, I’m sure you’ll agree, is a snooze: National Nutrient Management Standard.

Yet this document represents the agency’s best attempt to solve one of the country’s — and the world’s — really huge environmental problems: The nitrogen and phosphorus that pollute waterways.

There’s a simple reason why this problem is so big, and so hard to solve. Farmers have to feed their fields, before those fields can feed us. Without fertilizer, harvests would dwindle. But lakes, estuaries, and coastal waters lie downstream from highly fertilized farmland, and now they are choking to death on too much nutrition.

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The Ruth Mott Foundation recently received a Key Partner Award from Michigan State University Extension during its annual conference held in October.

The Key Partner Award is awarded annually to individuals, organizations, media, special MSU programs and government officials who have made significant contributions to creating, improving or promoting MSU Extension programs.

Executive Director Steve Wilson accepted the award for The Ruth Mott Foundation of Flint, which has been a key partner of MSU and MSUE for several years, focusing on and supporting the development of viable urban food systems in Flint and Genesee County.

When Extension teams up with the Ruth Mott Foundation, we work together and can expand our reach and do more for Michigan’s residents, specifically for those in Flint,” said MSU Extension Director Tom Coon.

The Ruth Mott Foundation partners with MSU Extension to provide support for edible flint, a network of local food producers and public and private organizations working on improving Flint residents’ access to healthy food. The foundation has been an instrumental supporter of the Flint Farmers Market, helping local producers travel on a learning journey to the Netherlands to meet with global leaders in urban agriculture, supporting new urban farmer efforts through numerous projects and supporting MSU Extension Genesee County food system and nutrition educators.

The Ruth Mott Foundation has the vision and faith in our Genesee extension staff to provide resources that allow us to collaborate with and help coordinate the work of edible flint and the broader Food Based Community Collaborative. We are truly grateful to Steve Wilson and the Ruth Mott Foundation for this support,” said MSU Extension Genesee County food system educator Terry McLean.

The Detroit News:

In the age of urban farming, organic compost made from manure is a valuable commodity.

That’s why two Detroit start-ups say they have hit compost gold after striking deals with the Detroit Zoo and Detroit Police Department’s Mounted Patrol to be their major suppliers. In two different parts of Detroit, two outfits are cultivating the big heaping piles of this product.

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