Alan Green, Executive Director

David Greene, Finance Manager 

Business Development Specialist

As the FSEP Business Development Specialist, Jane Bush works with individuals interested in starting a new food business or growing their existing business.  Jane has a wealth of knowledge as she is the owner of Appleschram Orchard, the first certified organic apple orchard in Michigan, which produces value-added apple products like cider, applesauce, and applebutter.  She also has experience with year-round vegetable production through a passive solar hoop-house and produces pasture-raised pork products on the farm as well.

Jane is also the founder of the farmers egg cooperative, Grazing Fields and was a founding board president of Michigan Integrated Food and Farming Systems (MIFFS).  Jane is deeply committed to sustainability and practices no-till, drip irrigation, integrated pest management, woodlot management, composting, mowing/cover cropping, and rainwater retention on her farm.  Through assistance provided by FSEP, Jane has been selling produce at U-M’s dining halls since 2007.  Jane was named the 2010 MIFFS Michigan Agricultural Steward of the Year.

Program Director – Farm to Food Service

FSEP Farm to Food Service Program Director, Michaelle Rehmann, strives to develop successful, sustainable Farm to Table Programs in school districts, universities, soup kitchens, hospitals and restaurants across southeast Michigan.  A locavore at heart, she believes that everyone deserves access to fresh, healthy and nutritious food grown locally and delights in the squeals of children as they try new fruits and vegetables for the first time.  Having grown up in a rural community and with a background in Community Relations from Michigan State University, Michaelle is able to effectively bridge the gap between the Food Service and Farming community.

Michaelle was first introduced to FSEP as an intern with Michigan State University Urban Collaborators summer internship program, where she worked under the guidance of Phil Tocco, MSU Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator and member of the FSEP Leadership Team.  During the summer of 2006 she conducted several market studies that examined the farm to consumer relationship in grocery stores and restaurants and presented her research at the 2006 Great Lakes Fruit and Vegetable Growers Conference.  In December 2006, Michaelle completed an analysis of the potential for Farm to School programs in southeast Michigan and presented it to the FSEP Leadership Team, which later led to the development of the organization’s Farm to School pilot program in 2007.  In 2008, Michaelle expanded the FSEP Farm to School program to Jackson County where five school districts representing 29 schools began serving their students locally grown fruits and vegetables.  Michaelle continues to help the farm to school movement grow in southeast Michigan and was instrumental in organizing the 2010 National Farm to Cafeteria and the 2011 Making Good Food Work conferences held in Detroit.

FoodCorps Service Member
Jennifer Rusciano is a native of southeast Michigan and passionate about developing local food systems!  Originally from the Detroit area, Jennifer has worked for many years on community –building projects with non-profit Summer in the City.  She has served as a project director and led high school volunteers in efforts ranging from beautification and youth tutoring to urban gardening.  In the summer of 2009, while a student at Colgate University in New York, Jen founded a sports camp for elementary school youth in Detroit called Practice Makes Peace.  At Colgate, she studied Geography with an emphasis on food systems and conducted primary research on vendor participation in Central New York farmers’ markets and on food security for low-income residents in central New York.  As a student and a Michigander, Jen has witnessed how food underpins and reveals many of the social and environmental issues we face today, while at the same time it also serves to bring people together and nourish the body and soul.  She took this understanding into the field as a Thomas J. Watson Fellow exploring the effect of the cacao trade and the chocolate industry on cacao farming communities.  This one year project allowed Jen to experience firsthand the global relationships contained within a single chocolate bar, and to witness the benefits and challenges impacting the lives and lands of cacao communities.  While experiencing the vital importance of farming, food access, and knowledge, Jen hoped to bring her passion back home to Michigan.  She is currently serving as the FoodCorps Service Member at Food System Economic Partnership (FSEP) with a special focus on our Farm2School campaign.  She is excited to bring farmers, food service directors, and everyone in between together to build healthy, local markets and food sources for students and the greater community.  In her spare time, she practices perfecting chocolate bar recipes and is studying to become a Master Gardener.  Come visit us at FSEP this year!