The Brightmoor Farmway Cookbook

When Amy Roggenburg, a public policy student at the University of Michigan, became involved with the Brightmoor Youth Garden Partnership she wanted to bring something to the community that it did not have – something that could be marketed to positively represent the neighborhood and strengthen their own sense of community. An avid food lover, she thought: “why not a cookbook?” The response to her idea was overwhelming – everyone had a story and a recipe to share. It soon became apparent that it was not the recipes that would shape the book, but those stories.

The Neighbors Building Brightmoor Cookbook is a collaborative effort between neighbors, and University of Michigan students in both the English department and the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design’s Detroit Connections program. Students in Christine Modey’s Food, Justice, and Community course interviewed neighbors and wrote profiles while students in Detroit Connections: Design Collaboration contributed watercolor illustrations, photography, and designed the book in collaboration with the neighbors and community members featured in the publication.

What started out as a small idea became a book brimming with voices of the Brightmoor community – and an opportunity for neighborly ties between the Brightmoor and University of Michigan communities.

The Brightmoor Farmway: A collection of Stories & Recipes from Neighbors Building Brightmoor was launched at a Neighbors Building Brightmoor block party the summer after its production.

VIEW THE BRIGHTMOOR FARMWAY COOKBOOK

READ A STORY ABOUT THE COOKBOOK