Joining
MSU’s Organic Farming Certificate Program marks a mid-life
career shift for Linda Anderson. She and her
husband Andy have lived in the Lansing area for 28 years. They
have three grown kids who live all around the country. Most recently
she has volunteered with organizations that promote local fresh
food, including the community garden program of the Greater Lansing
Food Bank, Lansing’s Allen Street Farmers' Market, and the
East Lansing Food Co-op. She wants to learn how to increase the
amount of fresh, local, sustainably-grown food available to everyone,
regardless of income level. Linda is especially eager to learn
more about four-season production and how to plan and organize
urban community gardens. She enjoys gardening, reading all kinds
of books, yoga, and cooking.
Dan
Bair spent his childhood roaming the inland lake shorelines
and forests of southern Michigan and on a special northern Michigan
island, developing his deep appreciation of natural processes
and features. He grew up just outside Brooklyn, Michigan, near
Jackson, where his parents still live, surrounded by family farms
and plentiful fresh water. Dan’s university studies focused
on urban and environmental issues, resulting in his Bachelor of
General Studies degree from the University of Michigan. Both the
academics and his experience living in a student cooperative sparked
his interest in locally produced organic food and the practical
world of agriculture. After spending post-graduate time in Ann
Arbor, Portland, Oregon and Chicago, the Organic Farming Certificate
Program drew Dan back to Michigan.
Hearing
about MSU’s Organic Farming Certificate Program led James
Garthe to transfer from Northern Michigan University,
where he was pursuing a Master’s degree in environmental
education to add to the BS in environmental conservation that
he earned earlier at NMU. When he completes the certificate program,
he plans to continue his education with a Master’s degree
relating to sustainable food systems and education. He enjoys
working with children, and has directed the Leland 4-H Kids Club,
an MSU Extension after-school program. James enjoys gardening,
cooking, skiing in powder, playing music and being in nature.
He hopes to start a farm/education center that will grow foods
more sustainably, grow minds, and help to create a more sustainable
planet.
Arranging
for her sweet, funny, smart, amazing kids – Xavier and Aurora
– plus two crazy sled dogs to stay with family members near
Grand Haven while she is in school was a critical part of
Teri Vanhall’s arrangements to participate in the
Organic Farming Certificate Program at MSU.
A born and bred West Michigander, she smiles when thinking about
old trucks, good dogs, fishing, all things music, an honest day’s
work, and a good cup of coffee. Teri considers her work as a paid
educational adventure and she has engaged in these adventures
in various health field positions; with DNR Parks & Wildlife;
teaching rock-climbing, survival, and ecology; as a sled-dog tour
guide; in construction; and most recently pouring concrete. When
she completes the program, Teri looks forward to creating a CSA
farm in the center of a web of sustainable research, education
and practices.
Anna Kaschner grew up in Potterville, Michigan on a 17-acre farm
with Angora goats and Black Angus cattle. Currently living in
downtown Lansing, she cares for a dozen feral cats in her neighborhood.
Anna even constructed a “cat condo” in her back yard,
complete with ‘apartments’ and a community feeding
area to keep these kitties safe from the harsh winter weather.
Anna is working to replace all the commercial cleaning and cosmetic
products in her house with products she has made herself. She
also enjoys bicycling, rock climbing, and Yoga. Anna is more excited
about starting the Organic Farming Certificate Program than she
has ever been for anything in school before. She especially looks
forward to learning about the bees.
Joining
the initial cohort of MSU’s Organic Farming Certificate
Program will take Kathy Koch another step closer
to her desire to teach hungry people how to feed both their bellies
and their souls. She has already earned vocational certificates
in horticulture, integrated pest management; obtained her pesticide
license with the State of Michigan; and studied greenhouse management,
plant science, and soil fertility and management. Kathy has contributed
to community gardening and food projects in Southeast Michigan.
Reading a 2003 article by Eliot Coleman sparked her interest and
study of sustainable and organic gardening and farming. After
completing the OFCP, Kathy hopes to obtain a degree in Plant Pathology
at MSU. She wants to use her education and experience to help
establish community gardens in low-income neighborhoods.
Rosemary
Sheets calls herself a neophyte in terms of her farming
knowledge, even though she has lived for many years in rural areas
and on farms and has gardened for most of her life. She lives
in Williamston, Michigan on a farm and is married with three children
– Margaret, away at college; Alison, a high school senior;
and Ian, a freshman. Rosemary’s entry in the Organic Farming
Certificate Program will mark the beginning of her third career.
She was educated as a lawyer in England and in the U.S. and was
admitted to the Michigan Bar in 1982. She has spent a number of
years as a homemaker. Her involvement in the program will help
her investigate the optimum way to use the land that her family
owns. Rosemary suggests that the cohort be called the ‘GANICS
– a cross between mechanics with skill and hands-on knowledge
and manic which indicates a particular devotion to the subject!.
Growing
up on a farm near Pewamo, Michigan, Thomas Stump
learned about raising a variety of animals, especially swine.
While working at a variety of jobs including one in a saw mill,
he earned an Associate’s Degree in the Arts at Lansing Community
College. Still working, this time at General Motors, he earned
a second Associate’s Degree in Philosophy at LCC and took
some classes at MSU. Thomas eventually returned to full-time farming
with his brother. He knows conventional farming methods, and is
excited to come to MSU’s Organic Farming Certificate Program
to explore organic approaches, learn new methods and expand on
his strengths.
Maggie
Wright earned a Bachelor’s degree in Spanish from
the University of Michigan. She has trained and worked as an English
as a Second Language teacher and is interested in immigration
issues and learning about other countries, languages and cultures.
Originally from Brighton, Michigan, she now lives in Lansing.
Maggie loves theater and music. She sings, plays various instruments,
and mimes in a local circus group. She entered MSU’s Organic
Farming Certificate Program to learn more about growing food and
about how local food can improve the health, vitality, fellowship
and autonomy of all communities -- especially lower income, urban
neighborhoods.
Joining
MSU’s Organic Farming Certificate Program marks a mid-life
career shift for Linda Anderson. She and her
husband Andy have lived in the Lansing area for 28 years. They
have three grown kids who live all around the country. Most recently
she has volunteered with organizations that promote local fresh
food, including the community garden program of the Greater Lansing
Food Bank, Lansing’s Allen Street Farmers' Market, and the
East Lansing Food Co-op. She wants to learn how to increase the
amount of fresh, local, sustainably-grown food available to everyone,
regardless of income level. Linda is especially eager to learn
more about four-season production and how to plan and organize
urban community gardens. She enjoys gardening, reading all kinds
of books, yoga, and cooking. 
Dan
Bair spent his childhood roaming the inland lake shorelines
and forests of southern Michigan and on a special northern Michigan
island, developing his deep appreciation of natural processes
and features. He grew up just outside Brooklyn, Michigan, near
Jackson, where his parents still live, surrounded by family farms
and plentiful fresh water. Dan’s university studies focused
on urban and environmental issues, resulting in his Bachelor of
General Studies degree from the University of Michigan. Both the
academics and his experience living in a student cooperative sparked
his interest in locally produced organic food and the practical
world of agriculture. After spending post-graduate time in Ann
Arbor, Portland, Oregon and Chicago, the Organic Farming Certificate
Program drew Dan back to Michigan. 
Hearing
about MSU’s Organic Farming Certificate Program led James
Garthe to transfer from Northern Michigan University,
where he was pursuing a Master’s degree in environmental
education to add to the BS in environmental conservation that
he earned earlier at NMU. When he completes the certificate program,
he plans to continue his education with a Master’s degree
relating to sustainable food systems and education. He enjoys
working with children, and has directed the Leland 4-H Kids Club,
an MSU Extension after-school program. James enjoys gardening,
cooking, skiing in powder, playing music and being in nature.
He hopes to start a farm/education center that will grow foods
more sustainably, grow minds, and help to create a more sustainable
planet.
Arranging
for her sweet, funny, smart, amazing kids – Xavier and Aurora
– plus two crazy sled dogs to stay with family members near
Grand Haven while she is in school was a critical part of 
Joining
the initial cohort of MSU’s Organic Farming Certificate
Program will take Kathy Koch another step closer
to her desire to teach hungry people how to feed both their bellies
and their souls. She has already earned vocational certificates
in horticulture, integrated pest management; obtained her pesticide
license with the State of Michigan; and studied greenhouse management,
plant science, and soil fertility and management. Kathy has contributed
to community gardening and food projects in Southeast Michigan.
Reading a 2003 article by Eliot Coleman sparked her interest and
study of sustainable and organic gardening and farming. After
completing the OFCP, Kathy hopes to obtain a degree in Plant Pathology
at MSU. She wants to use her education and experience to help
establish community gardens in low-income neighborhoods. 
Rosemary
Sheets calls herself a neophyte in terms of her farming
knowledge, even though she has lived for many years in rural areas
and on farms and has gardened for most of her life. She lives
in Williamston, Michigan on a farm and is married with three children
– Margaret, away at college; Alison, a high school senior;
and Ian, a freshman. Rosemary’s entry in the Organic Farming
Certificate Program will mark the beginning of her third career.
She was educated as a lawyer in England and in the U.S. and was
admitted to the Michigan Bar in 1982. She has spent a number of
years as a homemaker. Her involvement in the program will help
her investigate the optimum way to use the land that her family
owns. Rosemary suggests that the cohort be called the ‘GANICS
– a cross between mechanics with skill and hands-on knowledge
and manic which indicates a particular devotion to the subject!.
Growing
up on a farm near Pewamo, Michigan, Thomas Stump
learned about raising a variety of animals, especially swine.
While working at a variety of jobs including one in a saw mill,
he earned an Associate’s Degree in the Arts at Lansing Community
College. Still working, this time at General Motors, he earned
a second Associate’s Degree in Philosophy at LCC and took
some classes at MSU. Thomas eventually returned to full-time farming
with his brother. He knows conventional farming methods, and is
excited to come to MSU’s Organic Farming Certificate Program
to explore organic approaches, learn new methods and expand on
his strengths.
Maggie
Wright earned a Bachelor’s degree in Spanish from
the University of Michigan. She has trained and worked as an English
as a Second Language teacher and is interested in immigration
issues and learning about other countries, languages and cultures.
Originally from Brighton, Michigan, she now lives in Lansing.
Maggie loves theater and music. She sings, plays various instruments,
and mimes in a local circus group. She entered MSU’s Organic
Farming Certificate Program to learn more about growing food and
about how local food can improve the health, vitality, fellowship
and autonomy of all communities -- especially lower income, urban
neighborhoods.