09/10/2026
🌱 Farmers to Markets Program – September 10 Distribution 🌱
Another week of the Farmers to Markets Program brought fresh, locally grown food directly from the Manistique Farmer & Artisan Market into our community. This week’s harvest from Demers Farm / Ganga Rai was distributed to St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry in downtown Manistique and included Swiss chard, two varieties of kale, red potatoes, onions, beefsteak and cherry tomatoes, green beans, zucchini, acorn squash, eggplant, and pumpkins.
We’re also excited to celebrate another strong market week for Furlong Creek Farm, which once again reached its guaranteed sales threshold through direct customer purchases. That means their products were purchased by market shoppers - exactly the kind of farmer success this program was created to encourage.
A special thank you to Kay, Jan, Meladee, Ed, and the entire St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry team for partnering with us. Their work helps provide food assistance to individuals and families throughout our area, and we’re grateful that Farmers to Markets can add fresh, locally grown food to what is available through their pantry.
Farmers to Markets, an initiative of Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development - MDARD and Michigan Farmers Market Association, creates a guaranteed level of sales for participating farms. When that threshold isn’t met through market-day purchases, eligible products are purchased through the program and distributed to community partners. It’s a model that puts farmers first while simultaneously expanding fresh food access, reducing food waste, and building stronger connections between farms and the communities they serve.
Thank you to Demers Farm, Furlong Creek Farm, St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry, MDARD, MIFMA, and everyone helping make these connections possible.
We’ll be back next week as another harvest makes its way from our participating farmers to its next community destination. 💚
