Sharing Abundance and Adversity:
Food Stories from the Keweenaw

A community photovoice project

What if we tended to the care of story in our local food systems just as we tend to the care of compost, soil, or tomato plants? What if we shared our food stories with the same attention we pay to making our favorite recipes for loved ones? Too often, we hear stories about our food systems that are harmful misconceptions – that our food comes from “somewhere else” or that we “can’t grow much food here.” These stories are not true; what might true stories, told in our own words, look like? What power might these stories have as we share them together as tools for education, community-making, and food systems transformation?

In fall 2022-spring 2023, 11 community members met at the Portage Lake District Library to share local food stories through a participatory research method called photovoice. Photovoice involves community members in an iterative process of story-sharing as they bring photos and reflections to meetings for shared dialogue.

The ongoing dialogue helps new connections and knowledge to grow. Some members of the group chose to take part in a community food stories exhibit, selecting some of their images and narratives to share publicly. Together, the group developed a title for the exhibit: “Sharing Abundance and Adversity: Food Stories from the Keweenaw.” An example of a photostory from this exhibit is below:

*Photographed here is an old apple tree in my yard. The tree has a weird shape due to pruning, property lines, and age. It still produces wild, medium-sized apples every year with no maintenance.*
*I wanted to display a contrast of how it can produce a food source for me and local wildlife amongst the urban landscape, such as the neighboring shed and parking lot.*
*For some, the apples it produces might be seen as a nuisance but to me I am in awe that it produces an abundance despite, or perhaps even in spite, of the landscape that has been built around it.*

The meetings were facilitated by 14 students in the Fall 2022 Communities & Research class, taught by Dr. Angie Carter in the Social Sciences department at Michigan Tech University. Students in the course also developed materials so that educators and other community members could engage in or adapt this project for their own use (see resources below). Isabelle Cervantes, a student from the class, then designed the printed exhibit in Spring 2023.

The printed exhibit consists of a selection of 11 of the 22 total local food stories shared throughout the project. The project is a great educational tool to share at public events and local schools. Additionally, the class created materials for others interested in using photovoice, including a toolkit and lesson plans for K-12 classrooms.

If you’re interested in displaying this exhibit at your event or school, please contact Rachael Pressley at WUPPDR. Funding for this project was provided by the Michigan Health Endowment Fund in support of WUPFSC’s ongoing farm to school advocacy.

Community food stories project resources:

Sharing Abundance and Adversity: Food Stories from the Keweenaw (PDF Exhibit): Designed by MTU student Abby Pettit, this PDF online booklet can be printed and shared or viewed online; features 22 photostories
“Sharing Abundance and Adversity: Food Stories from the Keweenaw (Printed exhibit): Consists of 11 - 20”x30” foam core poster board panels and easels for display
Photovoice food systems lesson plans for Elementary, Middle, and High School (developed by Sydney Mechling and Maya Klanderman): These adaptable lesson plans can be used in classrooms to learn about food systems using the photovoice method
Photovoice toolkit (designed by Skylar Scheff): A guide to helping groups plan and facilitate a photovoice project around any topic
Community Food Story Photovoice Photovoice Participatory Action Research Guide (written by the Fall 2022 Communities & Research class and final revisions by Maya Klanderman): a report summarizing the 2022 Communities & Research class project engaging and facilitating the photovoice process