Michael Broadway

Michael Broadway is Professor of Geography and the former Dean of Arts & Sciences at Northern Michigan University. His research expertise focuses on the meatpacking industry’s community impacts. In 2006 he was a visiting Fulbright Research Chair in the Department of Rural Economy at the University of Alberta. He is a co-author with Donald Stull of Slaughterhouse Blues: The Meat and Poultry Industry in North America. (2nd edition 2011: Cengage). More recently he has published on a variety of food and drink related topics including food tourism, slow food and coffeehouses.

The UP’s Farming Revival

Most people would consider the Upper Peninsula largely unsuitable for agriculture; its short growing season, poor soils, extreme weather and small market make farming a challenge. However, as Michael Broadway details, there has been a reversal in the decline of farms in the UP over the last 30 years.

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UP Challenges for the Governor’s Office of Rural Development

The Upper Peninsula faces many challenges as a rural region that Governor Whitmer’s Office of Rural Development seeks to address–namely broadband access, infrastructure, and recruiting and retaining talent.

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Changing demographics and employment structure bring long-term challenges to the Upper Peninsula

NMU Professor of Geography and former Dean of Arts & Sciences weights in on the long-term challenges he believes the Upper Peninsula will face as a result of changes in demographics, employment structure, and economic diversification.

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