Category Archives: Food

The team at Bellflower would love to make your Thanksgiving dinner this year

By Mark | October 30, 2020

I’m sorry that I haven’t been around much lately. Between working to get Biden elected, taking care of the kids, and helping to get an award-winning, five-star restaurant off the ground here in Ypsi, I just haven’t had time to engage in the debate over the rapidly imploding right wing conspiracy theory about Hunter Biden’s […]

Also posted in Ann Arbor, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Tagged Argus Farm Stop, Bellflower, Jenn Lucier, stuffing, Thanksgiving, Turkey, wine, Ypsilanti Rye | 36 Comments

How to handle groceries and wash produce in the age of COVID-19

By Mark | March 27, 2020

Our friend Lynne just left a comment here, alerting us to the existence of a video, made by Grand Rapids-based family practitioner, Dr. Jeffrey VanWingen, about how one should handle groceries in the era of COVID-19. I thought that I’d move it up here, to the front page, as it seems like a message that […]

Also posted in Health, Uncategorized | Tagged coronavirus, COVID-19, Grand Rapids, groceries, Jeffrey VanWingen, Lynne, produce, public health | 14 Comments

Melvin Parson and the campaign to create a world-class urban farm in Ypsilanti

By Mark | February 26, 2019

Melvin Parson and I have been working off an on for the past two years on an interview for this site. It began as an Ypsilanti Immigration Interview, and, over time, as we dug deeper into his work with We The People Growers Association, evolved into something more about his dream of establishing a world-class […]

Also posted in Agriculture, Ann Arbor, Detroit, entrepreneurism, Environment, Sustainability, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Tagged 13th, addiction, Ann Arbor, Avalon Housing, Black Beauty, community gardens, culinary arts, Dawn Farm, Detroit, Doug Coombe, drugs, Edible Avalon, Emanuel Tyus, food hub, fundraising, Great Migration, Henry Ford, Henry Ford Museum, heroin, inequality, Kerrytown, Kerrytown Farmers Market, local food, local food production, matching grants, Melvin Parson, Michigan Department of Corrections, Parkridge Homes, Port Huron, prison industry, prison reform, Shaka Senghor, social justice, St. Joseph Mercy, substance abuse, the hiring on ex-fellons, urban farming, Washtenaw County Jail, We The People Growers Association, We The People Opportunity Center, white flight, Wizard of Oz, YCS, Ypsi immigration interview, Ypsilanti Community Schools | 9 Comments

On making myself a smaller target for illness

By Mark | January 2, 2019

I’m not a big fan of New Year’s resolutions. I like the idea of being reflective, and giving serious thought as to how one might be able to do better in the year ahead, but, as a rule, I think they’re counterproductive, as they’re rarely kept, and just leave people feeling like shit. Perhaps more […]

Also posted in Health, Mark's Life | Tagged aging, alcohol, anxiety, back pain, beer, beets, BMI, calories, cancer, cold turkey, colonoscopy, dietary reset, diets, elimination diet, fat, fat shaming, flour, GERD, gluten, Health, kale, losing weight, New Year's resolution, OCD, processed foods, smoothies, sugar, sweets, vegan, weight issues, wheat, Whole 30, wine | 29 Comments

Ypsilanti’s first Annual Cider Fest is this Saturday

By Mark | November 1, 2018

A while back, I’d heard from from a friend that the Michigan Brewers Guild had put out the word that, going forward, they wouldn’t be allowing cider makers to participate in their big, annual Ypsilanti Beer Fest. Being skeptical by nature, and knowing how much cider is increasing in popularity, I just assumed that this […]