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Emily's Story


Northern Harvest: Twenty Michigan Women in Food and Farming

https://www.wsupress.wayne.edu/books/detail/northern-harvest

EMILY UMBARGER   
     
When people say something happened “by accident” I don’t agree. Meeting Emily in 2017 when I stopped to ask questions about that new greenhouse on the Interlochen campus near the IPR station where I had been volunteering, was not an accident. Meeting Emily was a marvel and a joy. I learned about her—how with her grandmother she first learned to forage--and also how the two of them experienced 18th century life, customs, crafts, and costumes, when they volunteered several summers at Fort Michilimackinac on Mackinac Island.


The driving force behind the greening of the Interlochen Arts Academy--for which Interlochen received a National Award in 2019--Emily teaches sustainability to students and to children in the surrounding community. She now holds the title of Sustainability Manager, the first time Interlochen has had such a position. Emily is also an experienced college counselor. 

During this quarantine era she’s been homeschooling her children and caring for the many animals—goats, horses, chickens, ducks, bees and more—at her Hearth and Harvest Homestead.  

To read more of Emily’s story and to learn about 19 other amazing women, Northern Harvest is available now from your favorite bookstore.

Also, to learn more about Interlochen's new green activities and Emily's lead role in developing and promoting them, here is a link to an interview from 2019 when the camp received its Green Ribbon Award.  
https://www.9and10news.com/2019/07/02/interlochen-center-for-the-arts-green-award/



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