Winter Veggies cooking class - January 25th
Native-plant Gardening for Pollinators - January 25th
Green Film Fest: "Kilowatt Ours" - February 5th
Traditional Breads for St. Patrick's Day - February 9
Taste of Mexican Hospitality - March 28
Projects & Partnerships
In keeping with our mission, we have developed important partnerships and programs that further our goal of educating our community about food and food systems.
Eat Local, Kalamazoo!
Folks in the Kalamazoo area are treated to an annual series of events featuring local foods. Organizers look to exciting trends and community needs as they design presentations that enlighten and entertain. The Eat Local Passport and Eat Local Challenge are part of the adventure.
Growing Matters Garden Program
Our urban educational gardening program empowers, engages and educates local youth and the larger community with hands-on learning opportunities. A garden is a great place for people to come together, learn to raise food, and understand the ecology of sustainable growing.
Future Chefs
This program, a partnership between the City of Kalamazoo Parks & Recreation and Fair Food Matters, offers teens aged 13-18 experience in the kitchen with food service professionals. For more information about Future Chefs, contact us.
can-do kitchen Project
The Can-Do Kitchen is the area's only food business incubator/commercial kitchen. It supports food entrepreneurs by providing a low-risk environment, connecting to business-building resources, partnering with business counselors, hosting promotional tasting events, offering food safety training, facilitating wholesale ingredient orders, and more. We serve dozens of small food businesses and cooking classes and our kitchen is available for catering, cooking parties, cooking shows or video taping, workplace and team building exercises, product testing and staff training, and whatever your imagination! We are located at 511 Harrison, Kalamazoo and can be reached at 269-492-0261 or kitchen@fairfoodmatters.org.
Southwest Michigan Community Harvest Fest
Fair Food Matters has teamed with other organizations for several years to present this one-day celebration of local food, local farming and sustainable living. Featuring speakers, demonstrations, exhibitors, music, food and family activities, it's a regional happening!
- Can-Do Kitchen
A licensed facility for new & existing food businesses, local-produce processing, and job training.
- Douglass Farmers' Market
Greet friends and neighbors at this new market on the north side of town featuring local producers.
- Eat Local, Kalamazoo!
Learn how, where and why to eat local in our series of presentations and events.
- Future Chefs
Teens cook? From scratch? Check out this cool summer program.
- Growing Matters Garden
Kids get their hands dirty, and learn a lot, with our multi-site gardening project.
- Southwest Michigan Community Harvest Fest
Celebrate local food, local farming, and sustainable living with great speakers, music and more.