Club to Cone: Michigan Sugar Helps Kids Grow Mint for Summer Treats

Top agronomists with Michigan Sugar Company have teamed up with local Boys & Girls Clubs to raise mint plants as part of an Edible Education program over the summer months.  The mint will be used to produce a special flavor at the popular Michigan Cream & Sugar ice cream shops.

During April, Michigan Sugar’s team is visiting each of the six Boys & Girls Clubs in Saginaw and Bay Counties, showing members how to nurture seeds into seedlings through starter trays. After the last frosts, the youths will transfer the plants to outdoor gardens, many of which Michigan Sugar helped establish in 2024.

By late summer, the mint will be ready for harvest and use by the Michigan Cream & Sugar Ice Cream Company in a new white chocolate-peppermint flavor.

“The great part of the program is they’re doing all of the planting and all of the activities themselves,” Tyler Kring, community relations manager for Michigan Sugar, said  “These kids are themselves in essence a little farm here at the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Great Lakes Bay Region.”

In 2024, Michigan Sugar became the official Healthy Habits program partner for the Clubs, helping establish their gardens, teaching the youths about soil layers, and even making veggie pizzas with the produce they harvested. Some Clubs had such bountiful harvests that they experimented with pickling and canning the surplus. This year, the Clubs will continue growing the tomatoes, peppers, beans, and other vegetables that thrived in 2024, while raising the mint crop in a separate bed. 

“This is such a neat partnership,” Program Director Sam Oliver said. “As a cooperative of sugar beet farmers, Michigan Sugar is uniquely positioned to help with the gardens. They were instrumental in getting the gardening program going last year, and now we are really taking it to the next level together.”

Summer registration is now open for all six Clubs across the Great Lakes Bay Region. Those interested in learning more about the organization and its programs should call the administrative office at 989-321-9648 or visit boysandgirlsclubsglbr.com