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Food in Michigan is a huge cultural event, almost as serious as the arts. There are countless festivals dedicated to Michigan foods and beverages.

Below is a partial list of foods that have been made famous in and by Michigan. There is a related link for several of the food festivals scheduled in Michigan for 2011:

  • Cherries - Michigan is the largest producer of cherries in the world. The annual Cherry Festival is in Traverse City
  • apples - statewide, but predominates in west Michigan
  • Vernor's brand Ginger Ale (one of the few made with real ginger, and the original soft-drink, first made and sold in 1866--Hires rootbeer is the next closest from 1875.)
  • corn - statewide
  • soy beans - statewide
  • potatoes - Central Michigan, Edmore area
  • maple syrup - statewide (multiple Syrup Festivals around the state in spring)
  • fudge - Mackinaw Island and Holland, MI
  • salt water taffy - Mackinaw Island
  • venison - statewide
  • fluoridated water - originated in Grand Rapids, 25 January 1945
  • salmon - all three Great Lakes and the larger rivers
  • walleye - All three Great Lakes and the Detroit River
  • wine - statewide, but predominates along the lakeshore and in Grand Traverse County.
  • pasties (pronounced with a short "a" as in apple) - statewide, but came from the mining areas of the UP (Upper Peninsula).
  • beer - statewide, but the largest microbreweries are in Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids.
  • Kellogg's cereals - Battlecreek, MI
  • Packzi (pronounced Pootchkee), a Polish jelly or custard filled pastry popular on Fat Tuesday - statewide.
  • mint - Bailey/Grant area
  • onions - Grant area and the "muck farms" in the Grand River valley.
  • peppermint (also known as Michigan Mint) - Bailey/Grant area.
  • Koegel meats (bologna, frankfurters, Vienna dogs, etc.)
  • Faygo soft-drinks (the origin of the word "pop" by which all soft-drinks in Michigan are referred.)
  • Morel mushrooms (one of the few places outside of France where they will grow)
  • navy beans, black beans, and cranberry beans - statewide (Michigan is the nation's largest producer)
  • Hot Dogs (standards rival every other state and the USDA) - largest producers are in west Michigan.
  • the Michigan Dog (steamed hot dog on a steamed bun with Michigan (meat) sauce and onions (optional--on the dog, under the dog, or on the sauce).) - originated in Jackson, MI in 1916.
  • wild turkey (the bird not the beverage) - statewide but central Michigan dominates.
  • beet sugar (Saginaw Bay area)
  • Trout - statewide
  • strawberries - statewide
  • cheese - we're no Wisconsin or California, but Michigan cheese rocks.
  • baby food - Yep. Gerber is headquartered in Freemont, MI
  • blueberries - statewide but predominates along the western lakeshore and in the river valleys.
  • Armillaria Bulbosa, "Humongous Fungus" - one of the world's largest and oldest lifeforms, located in and around Crystal Falls, MI - produces edible "honey mushrooms."
  • peaches - central, southern, and west Michigan.
  • blackberries, raspberries, boysenberries,

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