Here’s some economic news to brighten your summer and provide a catalyst for green jobs that can’t be outsourced: Michigan leads the country in the production of many tasty fruits and vegetables, and the next few months are prime time to find them at your local farm markets and roadside stands.

Paper or plastic? Cans or bottles? And as the holiday season approaches, add this dilemma: Real or fake? Every year, millions of consumers face the same choice—a real Christmas tree or an artificial one?

More than two years after the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) opened up the rulemaking process for pesticide use in Michigan, the verdict is in, and it’s not pretty.

For those who love fresh food, summer is high season in Michigan. Farmers’ markets, roadside vegetable stands and rural vistas of fertile fields inspire a sense of abundance and provide a chance to sample food the way it used to be—locally grown and rich with flavor. If the future of food doesn’t recapture some of that spirit, however, the air, water and other natural resources of the planet will be in growing jeopardy.

About 570 students graduated from the Michigan State University College of Agriculture this year, but only 10% studied the actual production of food. As the farming population ages, fewer young people learn historical or even cutting-edge farming techniques. MSU’s student organic farm continues to marry that cutting-edge learning with traditional agricultural practices.

For Michiganders, summer means a chance to sample a wide variety of produce, much of it grown right here and available at roadside stands and farmers’ markets.

Michigan boasts some of the most productive agricultural soils in the world. The diversity of our farm production is second only to California, and farming contributes more than $60 billion each year to Michigan’s economy.

Farmers, livestock producers and private forest owners manage more than 30% of Michigan’s landscape. Their decisions dramatically impact water quality, the fate of rare wildlife and even the pace of sprawl.