Regional Michigan Meanderings

Of course, the concept of local and regional food is nothing new, it’s just getting a whole new starring role in the greater food picture these days. Folks in magnificently diverse agricultural areas have long had regular access to a bounty of local and regional foods (California and Florida, I’m looking at you), and those of us in more dramatically seasonal locations have our summer markets and farm visits.

One summer highlight each year for me is the beginning of peach season in Michigan. I was in the Holland area last weekend and picked up my first batch of Michigan peaches (New Haven this time), which quickly went into a peach chutney I concocted (roasted banana peppers, white wine vinegar, shallots, garlic, salt) to accent some grilled pork tenderloins this week (I admit a few of those peaches disappeared before I got around to hitting the stove…). I’ll be back cruising along the Michigan coast next week on vacation for more farmstand browsing, delighting in the myriad fruit farms (including grapes, Michigan wine is coming along!) that grace the weather-tempered edge of Lake Michigan (with regular stops for lackadaisically dragging toes in warm sand and cool water, perhaps with an odd line cast in the surf for piscine dinner aspirations…).

As the concept of local food continues to finagle itself into our foodways, I think a rediscovery of our American regional foods—and the products that stem from them—will follow quickly in its wake. After all, there’s no reason why we can’t continue to enjoy our local and regional bounty in product form throughout the year.