Selling to Local Food Markets: Food Co-ops
October 7, 2026 12:00PM - 1:30PM
Contact: Jazmin Bolan-Williamson
Michigan’s Emerging Farmers and the Food Co-op Initiative will kick off the first webinar session in the series, Selling to Local Food Markets: A Webinar Series for Farmers. This session will provide farmers with practical strategies for selling to food cooperatives.
Meet this week’s speakers
- Jazmin Bolan-Williamson is the Farm and Food Business Coordinator at MSU Center for Regional Food Systems where she supports Michigan’s Emerging Farmers and the Lake Michigan School Food Systems Innovation Hub. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Food Industry Management from MSU with a focus in Environmental Studies through the RISE program. She has been part of many Local Food Projects including the NWI Mobile Food Truck and AmeriCorp, Growing Hope, the Ypsilanti Farmers Market and served on the Washtenaw County Food Policy Council fighting to make sure the council focused its efforts on equity within the food system.
- Chris Dilley has been working in and with cooperative grocery retail over 25 years. With experience ranging from board service to 20+ years of general management, Chris is now the Director of Startup Support at Food Co-op Initiative. In this role, he brings his experience with expansion and relocation projects, startup opening, board service and daily operations to the support of community-based efforts to develop startup food cooperatives through robust programming and direct technical assistance. He lives in Kalamazoo.
For questions about this webinar series, please contact Jazmin Bolan-Williamson, Farm and Food Business Coordinator at MSU CRFS at bolanwil@msu.edu.
About Michigan’s Emerging Farmers
Our statewide program aims to create pathways to growth and economic opportunity for all of Michigan’s agricultural producers, including small- to mid-sized farmers. This project is funded by USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, in a cooperative agreement with members of the Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems, Michigan State University Extension, and Michigan Food and Farming Systems (MIFFS).
This work is supported by the American Rescue Plan Technical Assistance Initiative program, project award no. 2023-70417-39233, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.
This event is also brought to you by the Great Lakes Partnership for Food and Farm Business Development.
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