CHATHAM — 2025 marked another successful year for the LIFT-UP (Locally Integrated Food Teams – Upper Peninsula) program. This year three schools, Negaunee High School, Munising High School and Ishpeming High School, each wrote grant proposals and received $2,500 in grant money to support a project the students developed around the question, “how do we get more local food into the school lunchroom?”

At Munising High School, Hilary Ludecke’s Environmental Science class worked as a team with knowledgeable adults to replace the hoop house plastic, add an irrigation system, build raised beds, and improve soil health in their school garden. Guidance about how to accomplish these updates and what to grow was provided by Yooper Country Farm. In the spring, the class began taste testing new recipe

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