Why do I Need a Web Site or On-Line Store?

Web sites are cost-effective calling cards on potential and existing customers. Here are some reasons why you may need a web site for your local food business:

1) You can’t be in two places at one time - you will tap into new markets that don't require your physical presence.
At Eat Local Food, we use our web site and on-line store to stay in touch with existing customers and to reach potential new customers in other areas where we can’t physically be. We recently received an order for tote bags from Fairbanks, Alaska!
As a grower or food entrepreneur, you are busy growing or making your product, selling at farmers markets, presenting in-store demos, or delivering produce to your CSA customers. While are you busy working, your web site represents you and your business. It’s a way to let potential customers learn about you, your business, your product and your values without you having to physically be there!


2) A web site offers a way to stay in touch with existing customers and let them know you're still here!
As a grower or food entrepreneur, you may sell your products on a seasonal basis. Or your business location may also be your home, not an established retail location. Your customers may not be seeing you on a regular basis. A web site offers you a way to stay in touch with your customers. You can write newsletters, a weekly blog, showcase new growing techniques, explain your business and even sell products on-line. An added bonus is that you can update your web site or write your newsletter during the time of day that best suits your schedule.


3) Presenting a good impression as an established business adds to your authenticity.
In today’s competitive economy, a web site presents a professional image for your business. It says that you are an established business owner with existing customers and products that are in demand. It’s important that your web site represent you and your business well – a poorly put together web site may not present the image you desire and can have a negative effect on sales.


4) With proper presentation and promotion, your web store will make sales for you.
Making a sale through your on-line store is like a gift. In most cases, you haven’t even met the customer – they just found you on the internet and liked what you had to offer. However, having a web site on the internet is not enough. You will need to draw customers to your site through on-going, active promotion. Search engines such as Google and Yahoo offer the small business owner tools to help attract customers to your site. E-newsletters, blogs and free internet listings are all proven marketing techniques to help increase sales. Popular web sites that offer internet listings free or for a small donation include www.localharvest.org, www.eatwellguide.org, and www.greenpeople.com.

Food System Economic Partnership 2009 Conference

Interested in learning more about the food system in southeastern Michigan?

The Food System Economic Partnership of Southeast Michigan is sponsoring their fourth annual conference on Thursday, June 18, 2009. The conference will be held at the LISD-Lenawee County Vocational Technical Center located at 1372 North Main Street (M-52) Adrian, MI 49221.

Kamyar Enshayan will be the keynote speaker on the topic, “Strengthening the Local Food Economy”. Kamyar Enshayan has worked in Northern Iowa to make locally grown foods more visible and available by connecting institutional food buyers to nearby farmers and processors. In 2007, 26 Northern Iowa grocers, restaurants, and institutions purchased $2.2 million from local food and farm businesses. Enshayan has been on the Cedar Falls City Council since 2003 and is the director of University of Northern Iowa's Center for Energy & Environmental Education.

The conference breakout sessions include a wide range of informative, current topics. Here is a sample of the sessions offered:
Incorporating Local Food in Business Operations
How to Sell Produce Direct to Schools
Small-Scale Organic Vegetable Production
Detroit Food Policy Council
Michigan Farm Market Association Update

On-line registration and conference location directions are available at http://www.fsepconference.org/. Early registration is open until June 1, 2009 and the cost is $40. The cost includes materials, attendance at sessions, and a seasonal local food lunch.

If you would like additional information regarding registration, sponsorship, and/or exhibiting please contact Jennifer Fike at 734-222-6859 or fikej@ewashtenaw.org.

Michigan Junior Iron Chef

Here’s an exciting local food cooking challenge for Michigan High School students from our friends at the Michigan Nutrition Network of Michigan State University Extension and the C.S. Mott Chair of Sustainable Agriculture at Michigan State University:

Dear Michigan High School Student, School Employee, or Community Member:

We are excited to invite high school students to join the first Michigan Junior Iron Chef Competition! This competition gives students hands-on cooking experience and teaches them about local foods and healthy food choices. It starts with a recipe contest (entries due May 8th, 2009) and ends with a cook-off competition on September 19th, 2009. Michigan Junior Iron Chef is sponsored by the Michigan Nutrition Network – Michigan State University Extension and the C.S. Mott Chair of Sustainable Agriculture at Michigan State University.

Here’s how it works:
Part 1. We challenge teams of 3-4 high school students to work with an adult coach to make one tasty, healthy school lunch meal featuring Michigan-grown and commodity foods. A list of these foods along with rules for participating are available on the Michigan Junior Iron Chef website listed below. Recipes should be easy and practical for school food service to use and meet nutrition guidelines for school lunch. (See rules on the website for more details.) To enter, teams submit an application and recipe for their meal by May 8th, 2009. Recipes will be judged by creativity, use of local foods, nutritional quality, and practical use for school food service. Winning recipes will be shared with schools throughout the state in a Michigan Junior Iron Chef Cookbook. To participate, student teams must be from Michigan schools which have at least 50% free and reduced-price meal participation. We ask that teams that enter the recipe contest be made up of 9th-11th graders so they may cook as a team at the competition in the fall of 2009.

Part 2: Teams that win the recipe contest will prepare and cook their meals on-site at the Michigan Junior Iron Chef Competition on September 19th, 2009. Teams will also create a nutrition education and marketing packet to present with their meals at the cook-off. Meals will be judged by an expert panel on taste, presentation, creativity, use of local foods, nutritional quality, and practical use for school food service. Prizes will be awarded to three winning teams for Best in Show (best overall), Best Use of Local Foods, and Best Nutrition Education and Marketing Packet. Prizes for the first place team, Best in Show, will be worth up to $150 per student team member and will include an award of $500 to the food service program of the team’s school! Reimbursements for travel for one vehicle per team and up to $100 for ingredients for practicing recipes will also be provided to teams that compete in the cook-off.

The event will also include a cooking demonstration and a healthy lunch along with tours of some of Michigan State University’s farming and food production facilities. Local farmers who provide ingredients for the event will also be invited to attend.

Spread the word! Help us recruit creative student teams for this exciting event! For more details and resources, go to our website at www.mnn.fcs.msue.msu.edu. Thanks for your help in promoting healthy eating habits and celebrating Michigan foods!

Sincerely,

Michigan Junior Iron Chef Planning Team
Michigan Nutrition Network, MSU Extension
2100 Anthony Hall
East Lansing, MI 48824
mnn@anr.msu.edu
www.mnn.fcs.msue.msu.edu