S o often, it seems, politicians declare this week or that month to signify the importance of an issue or matter, simply in pursuit of stark political gains. Speaking frankly, we’ve never liked that practice and very often seek to ignore it when it happens.

That’s not the case with an announcement from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office this week, where the state’s chief executive has set aside the month of July as Farm to Summer month, marking Michigan’s local food and agriculture products and promoting the use of local, in-season produce at summer distribution sites hosted by schools and non-profits across the state.

“Farm to Summer provides a great opportunity to add fresh, local Michigan products to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Summer Food Service Program,” Whitmer said in a press release. “Providing nutritious meals to Michigan kids during the summer months will help them succeed in the next school year, and buying locally grown fruits and vegetables supports our farm families and communities – a win/win for Michigan.”

We agree.

Officially known in Michigan as Summer Food Service Program’s Meet Up and Eat Up, this program provides free, nutritious meals during the summer to children up to age 18 living in low-income areas, where 50 percent or more of the students in the area qualify for free or reduced-price school meals, the press release details.

Early child care education programs across the state, children, and teens receive many benefits from the SFSP, including fresh Michigan fruits and vegetables, which are in peak production during the summer months, the release notes. Students learn where Michigan-grown products come from, including local Michigan farms, gardens, and producers. SFSP meal sites help children develop heathy habits through hands-on learning activities and educational opportunities, including gardening and taste-testing of a variety of Michigan-grown fruits and vegetables.

Everybody wins.

The press release notes that Michigan is one of the most agriculturally diverse states in the U.S., leading the nation in the production of dry black beans, dry cranberry beans, tart cherries, asparagus, cucumbers, dry navy beans, squash, and dry small red beans, and ranking high in the production of blueberries, summer squash, bell peppers, peaches, carrots, celery, sweet cherries, apples, fresh sweet corn, and many other specialty crops. The state has more than 46,000 farms producing a wide variety of crops on nearly 10 million acres of farmland. Wow.

We applaud Whitmer’s move for two important reasons. First, it recognizes that Michigan children will benefit by improved nutrition and all the positives that go along with that. Second, the easy political play here would have been to let well enough alone and to ignore the fact that hunger is an issue in the state of Michigan. Whitmer didn’t do that.

We certainly haven’t agreed with every decision Gretchen Whitmer has made since becoming governor. This one, however, she got right.