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Posted on Tue, Sep 6, 2011 : 2:12 p.m.

Rick Snyder, Debbie Stabenow collaborating on initiative to boost food processing industry

By Nathan Bomey

U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan, said she's working with Republican Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder to identify ways to boost Michigan’s food processing industry.

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U.S. Sen Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan

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Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican

Stabenow, who briefly mentioned the initiative today in an address to the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Regional Chamber of Commerce, didn’t offer details.

But she described food processing as a major growth opportunity for Michigan’s $71 billion agricultural industry, which is flourishing.

“We grow things here, we send them somewhere else to process” and then it comes back to be eaten, Stabenow said. “That’s an opportunity for us.”

Michigan's food processing industry has some 134,000 employees working at 1,600 licensed food processors, according to statistics released last year by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Michigan State University. But nearly 1,000 of those processors had less than $25,000 in annual sales.

Boosting the agricultural industry is a point of agreement between Stabenow, chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee, and Snyder, who regularly cited farming as a growth opportunity for Michigan during his gubernatorial campaign last year.

A spokeswoman for Snyder did not respond to a request seeking more information about their talks.

Washtenaw County, generally seen as a hotspot for the state’s high-tech industries and research-intensive businesses, also has about 1,300 farms. Local farmers generally focus on corn, soy beans, wheat, vegetables and dairy. Washtenaw is Michigan’s leading county in the number of sheep, goat and horse operations, Stabenow said.

She said the agricultural industry is growing at a rate five times faster than any other sector in Michigan.

“This is food security for our country, this is national security, this is health security,” she said. “We have a stake in making sure we have a strong agricultural sector.”

Among the emerging agricultural opportunities is bio-based manufacturing, she said. Several automakers, including Ford and General Motors, have already replaced petroleum-based interior vehicle parts in some cars with parts that were built using soy beans. The seat foam in the Chevrolet Volt, for example, is made using soy, not petroleum.

Michigan stands to benefit as more manufacturers start making bio-based products instead of petroleum-based products, she said.

“It’s cleaner, it’s lighter and it’s Michigan made,” Stabenow said.

Contact AnnArbor.com's Nathan Bomey at (734) 623-2587 or nathanbomey@annarbor.com. You can also follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's newsletters.

Comments

dave harris

Wed, Sep 7, 2011 : 3:11 a.m.

Sounds great. Let's hope it's not baloney....oops, sorry.

Stephen Landes

Wed, Sep 7, 2011 : 2:37 a.m.

Local farmers feeding local populations is nice, but the real opportunity is for expanded export of agricultural products both raw and processed. With better freight transportation out of Michigan to the world we could expand our agricultural production and feed more of the world while creating jobs at home -- not just on the farm, but in transportation, logistics, and skilled trades necessary to make the system function.

pearlgirl

Wed, Sep 7, 2011 : 5:02 p.m.

Perhaps Manny Maroun enterprise should get out of the way of improving transportation and logistics for the region, as required by court decree. His organization's ability to strangulate the region's roads, national security, and court system is an example of why government regulation of private industry is required for the common good.

Stephen Landes

Wed, Sep 7, 2011 : 2:34 a.m.

SEN Stabenow should read the article in today's A2.com re: George Washington Carver. What we need is freedom for creative people to investigate and create as they see fit. Carver did so much on his own at a time when Black Americans were hardly considered capable of doing such work. If he had to deal with all the regulations that the Feds pile on us today his work might never have seen the light of day. The Senator could do much by making sure the Federal agencies thin out the regulations and make those are actually required as sensible and easy to follow as possible. If you haven't tried reading these regs as published in the Federal Register you really should: it is an exercise in futility and frustration.

Bogie

Wed, Sep 7, 2011 : 2:09 a.m.

farm bill time. She's just like the rest of them. I wish we would go back to letting our state leglislature and governor pick our senator. Atleast we would have two representatives, that wouldn't suck up to party bosses and use their conference positions to "pay back" constituents. I'd bet our country wouldn't have the deficit problem it has today.

average joe

Tue, Sep 6, 2011 : 9:46 p.m.

The headline alone set me back- A democrat & a republican "collaborating". Didn't think it was possible.

Joe Hood

Tue, Sep 6, 2011 : 9:08 p.m.

All this time I've been told processed food is bad for me..

Vivienne Armentrout

Tue, Sep 6, 2011 : 7:53 p.m.

This is good news for a couple of reasons. A local food processing industry will not only produce jobs in itself, but will help to support a renascence of our agricultural economy in general. There has been a boomlet in new young farmers who have initiated local farm businesses. According to a study by the Center for Michigan (in their new online magazine, Bridge) the output of the agricultural sector in Washtenaw County increased 500% between 2001 and 2009. This was a period that was also characterized by a deep recession in the area and a loss of some major employers. See <a href="http://bridgemi.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Ann-Arbor.pdf" rel='nofollow'>http://bridgemi.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Ann-Arbor.pdf</a> (the figures are millions of dollars, this is a GDP study). (Note that the &quot;Ann Arbor MSA&quot; used for census purposes is the entire Washtenaw County.) Many if not most of our new farmers are producing for the fresh market now, but ultimately an opportunity to sell to food processors would be good for their business and for our opportunities to buy local food in an easily stored form.

KeepingItReal

Tue, Sep 6, 2011 : 7:38 p.m.

It must be election time.

luvdady

Tue, Sep 6, 2011 : 7:03 p.m.

but those are not high paying industrial union jobs, we don't need those types of jobs. we need to spend millions of dollars to make very few of those type of jobs, while every one whos not uaw is told to get to the back of the line.

glimmertwin

Tue, Sep 6, 2011 : 6:45 p.m.

Debbie Stabenow - another shining example of just what is wrong with Washington, DC. She needs to go just like every other multi-term politicians. They are all useless, out-of-touch career politicians that accomplish nothing other than what isn't needed.

pearlgirl

Wed, Sep 7, 2011 : 5:14 p.m.

Perhaps you really do not know Senator Debbie Stabenow. Check out: <a href="http://stabenow.senate.gov/?p=about_senator" rel='nofollow'>http://stabenow.senate.gov/?p=about_senator</a> Senator Stabeow has been working on behalf of Michigan farmers and the Michigan agricultural and food industry since the mid-1980's. Her support has resulted in significantly effective state and federal legislation while remaining pragmatic and fiscally responsible. She will continue to receive my vote.