Selma Cafe : All posts

Selma Cafe halts operations after city says it violated zoning codes

Lisa Gottlieb's home Wednesday at 722 Soule Blvd. in Ann Arbor, out of which she ran Selma Cafe -- a non-profit, weekly breakfast operation run by volunteers -- for four years until this week when she ceased operations.

Amy Biolchini | AnnArbor.com

The cafe, run by volunteers and donations out of Gottlieb's home at 722 Soule Blvd. served up its last meal April 12, according to a letter sent to the city of Ann Arbor offices Monday.

ann arbor chronicle: Locavore breakfast operation Selma Cafe in violation of city zoning codes; future uncertain

Editor's note: This story has been updated to add comment from Gottlieb.

The future of Selma Cafe, a weekly gathering of volunteers who prepare breakfast in a home on Ann Arbor's west side to raise money for local farmers, is in doubt after being notified it's in violation of city zoning ordinances, the Ann Arbor Chronicle reports.

Ann Arbor hoop house company wants to grow more small farms in Washtenaw County

Hoop house

Janet Miller | For AnnArbor.com

Jeff McCabe wants to help change the feast-or-famine nature of farming in cold weather climates such as Michigan.

As founder of Ann Arbor-based Nifty Hoops, he wants to spread the harvest into winter, allowing small farmers to increase profits and offering a carrot to encourage small, often organic, local farms.

“It’s about creating a viable food system,” McCabe said.

Food & Grocery: What's in your shopping basket? We ask three local food connoisseurs

An open-faced avocado, red onion and cheddar sandwich. Eve Aronoff lists this as one of her favorite flavor combinations and keeps her home kitchen stocked with all the ingredients.

Jessica Webster | AnnArbor.com

I was standing in line at my neighborhood grocery store after a quick, post-vacation restocking trip when it occurred to me that my grocery cart almost always looks the same. Of course, it varies depending on what’s on the menu for dinner, but there are certain items I buy nearly every shopping trip.

I looked around at some of the other shoppers and wondered how many of them had similar shopping habits. Does everyone buy the same food over and over? I reached out to a few friends for whom food is a huge focus in life and asked them about some of the items they might regularly find in their grocery cart when they're shopping for themselves.

Column: Whoop it up for hoophouses: Being 'green' in the dead of winter

Today our guest writer is Clifford Dean Scholz, a green devotee for decades and a volunteer hoophouse builder.

We talk a lot these days about how “green” a person, business or group is, but personally I can’t think of anything greener than opening the door of a passive-solar hoophouse in February to find beds teeming with lush spinach, lettuce, and baby Asian greens.

farm to fork

Food & Drink: A visit to Tilian Farm Development Center: a vision of our local food future

The first full time chicken residents to the Tilian Farm Development Center moved in at the end of March.

Corinna Borden | Contributor

As I noted in January, Tilian Farm Development Center is the larger envelope enclosing the Four Season Farmer Development Program (FSFDP), currently using 16 acres owned by Ann Arbor Township. The township’s acreage extends for 150 acres around an old barn (with a new roof courtesy of the township) and a crumbling side building. Three inaugural farms will share the land, the resources and the community’s support as the first wave of entrepreneurship under the Tilian umbrella.

Food & Drink: Selma Cafe celebrates its 2nd anniversary

Selma Cafe is a local-foods breakfast salon began in February 2009, founded and hosted by Lisa Gottlieb and Jeff McCabe, organized these past six months by Gottlieb, as McCabe has focused on the farming initiatives.

Lisa Gottlieb and Jeff McCabe celebrate their second anniversary of hosting Selma Cafe in their home.

Photo Courtesy of Anne Savage

Selma Cafe kicks off the Four Season Farmer Development Program this Saturday

Repasts Present & Future and Selma Cafe have recently announced the formation of The Four Season Farmer Development Program (4SFDP). This incubator farm program will stimulate the creation of new farm businesses in Washtenaw County by putting land and resources into the hands of new farmers.

The 4SFDP is funded by a Conservation Innovation Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and it has found a home on land owned by Ann Arbor Township. Current and funded infrastructure development include a large barn that is under restoration, water and electrical utilities, hoop houses, a produce wash and pack facility and root cellar storage. The program is slated to start in March, 2011. Additional programs are in development to create permanent farm sites on leased or purchased land as well as other educational opportunities and shared resources.

A public meeting is being held upstairs at The Grange Kitchen and Bar, 118 W Liberty, this Saturday, Jan. 22 at 3 p.m., including a question and answer period and opportunities to discuss this exciting new program.

For more information, please contact Jeff McCabeat jeff@selmacafe.org or Lisa Gottlieb at lisa@selmacafe.org.

with slideshow & video: Selma Cafe's Farmers Fund builds hoop houses

Hoop houses create a micro climate for vegetables, allowing a four-season harvest.

Corinna Borden | Contributor

A hoop house is a plastic structure used to extend the growing season for vegetables into all four seasons of the year - a grand thing for our Michigan winters. Shannon Brines, of Brines Farm, has been overwhelmed with demand for his fresh winter greens since he began four-season farming in 2004. Selma's Farmers Fund will allow more farmers to augment our winter supply.

local in ann arbor: Celebrating Friday Mornings @SELMA

On her blog, Local in Ann Arbor, Vivienne Armentrout writes about the weekly breakfast gatherings known as Friday Mornings @SELMA in the Old West Side home of Lisa Gottlieb and her husband, Jeff McCabe. Armentrout describes her experiences at the breakfasts and discusses SELMA as a metaphor for the local food movement.

The Ann Arbor Chronicle: Friday Mornings @SELMA to affiliate with Slow Food Huron Valley

According to an article in the Ann Arbor Chronicle, it appears that the weekly breakfast fundraising event known as the Selma Cafe will be able to continue under a new partnership with Slow Food Huron Valley.

The event, now called Friday Mornings @SELMA, happens at the Old West Side home of Lisa Gottlieb, and her husband, Jeff McCabe. Local officials became concerned that Gottlieb and McCabe were operating a restaurant out of a residence without proper regulatory permission.

Read the full story in the Ann Arbor Chronicle .