We know that access to food remains an ongoing need for families in our community, and in 2024 the Huss Project continued efforts to increase food availability to our neighbors through a variety of our own programs and partnerships.
This year we completed our 12th season hosting Meet Up and Eat Up, a free summer lunch program available to any school-aged child. In partnership with Three Rivers Community Schools, Meet Up and Eat Up distributes lunches to children who might not have access to meals when school is not in session. The Three Rivers Public Library once again provided a mobile book cart on-site with resources for participants to peruse while eating. We served over 3,000 meals during this ten week program!
Our Farmer’s Market has continued to be a financially-accessible option for our low-income neighbors as we accept multiple forms of food assistance, including SNAP, Senior Project Fresh, and Double Up Food Bucks. Additionally, any tips collected from market days go toward Huss Project Fresh Food Cards. These $15 cards can be used to purchase any additional produce at our market, and this year we distributed $2,625 in cards to neighbors at a Fresh Food Initiative (FFI) distribution in July!
Speaking of FFI, we continued our partnership with the South Michigan Food Bank and hosted monthly food distributions. Our FFI distribution now gives away 200 boxes of fresh food to families in need each month, which totals more than 7,200 neighbors a year. This year, we raised funds on Giving Tuesday specifically for FFI and we received more than $5,000 in donations! This generous support will fund the initiative for another year, meaning we can continue providing food to our neighbors in 2025.
This year we also worked with local, small farms (including our own) and provided fresh produce for anyone in need through weekly vegetable distributions, and also coordinated drop-offs to local food banks for their clients. Overall, we distributed almost 7,000 pounds of produce this summer!
Our People’s Plot was another source of free, fresh produce for our neighbors in 2024. Located outside the farm gates and accessible to the community at any time, this piece of land came to life with the help of volunteers from La Roche University and Plainsong Farm earlier this spring. Some of the produce grown included collard greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, hot peppers, sweet peppers, eggplant, okra, strawberries, basil, and Swiss chard. When the temperature began to drop this fall, Fetzer Institute volunteers came and helped us clear the Plot in preparation for winter. Many hands make light work!
We are committed to continue our work providing fresh food to our neighbors, and many organizations and individuals come together to make this possible. If you’d like to share your support, please donate at the link below!