THE 6.3 PERCENT unemployment rate in Michigan at the end of December 2014 was the lowest on record in a dozen years. Gov. Rick Snyder in his State of the State was quick to take credit for the improvement. Democrats attribute increased…

MR. SNYDER your “reinvention” of Michigan has left too many behind. We did not hear you acknowledge this during your campaign, and would have more confidence had we heard a frank assessment from you of Michigan’s challenges. The research…

The Washtenaw Food Policy Council (WFPC), the County appointed food policy group, recently approved a 23 point agenda, aggressively prioritizing support for a viable, economical, and sustainable local food system. The policy agenda…

By Christina Bravo COLLEGE STUDENTS ARE terrible eaters. Those four years aren’t known as the time for juice cleanse experiments, after all. But perhaps we can’t blame their recent struggle with malnutrition on one too many bowls of mac…

PROGRAM FACTS SNAP is targeted at the most vulnerable. 76 percent of SNAP households included a child, an elderly person, or a disabled person. These vulnerable households receive 83 percent of all SNAP benefits. SNAP eligibility…

A LOCAL ANONYMOUS donor has offered to match, dollar for dollar, financial gifts made to Food Gatherers up to $50,000 through Monday, March 31. With the match in place, donations to Food Gatherers of one dollar will provide enough food for…

by Sarah van Gelder IN 1986 CARLO Petrini and a group of friends threw a big pasta feed in Rome’s storied Piazza di Spagna (the Spanish Steps). The event was a protest against the opening of the first McDonald’s in Italy. Out of that…

IN A RECENT issue of The Ann Arbor Independent, the newspaper published an article which identified a cluster of Ann Arbor elementary schools at which fewer than 10 percent of the fifth grade students have scored “Advanced” on the MEAP in…

by Michael J. Brennan MICHIGANDERS ARE feeling the sting of a slow economic recovery — especially throughout Greater Detroit — and the lingering effects of the Great Recession are hitting families each night around the dinner table. As…

THE NUMBERS, ABOVE, represent the number of children enrolled in the Ann Arbor Public Schools who qualify for free or reduced price breakfasts and lunches. One in four children enrolled in the Ann Arbor Public Schools qualifies. This number…