Access to food is a basic human right, yet many fight to provide meals for their families – now more than ever. The Huss Project collaborated on a variety of programs and partnerships in 2025 dedicated to increasing food accessibility for our community.
For the youngest of our neighbors, summer can be a time when school lunchrooms close and free breakfast and lunch programs end. To ensure these children continue receiving nutritious meals during extended school vacations, the Michigan Department of Education created “Meet Up & Eat Up,” a program which provides free meals for kids 18 and younger, Monday through Friday, during summer breaks. This was our 15th summer as a host site in partnership with Three Rivers Community Schools, and we served over 2,000 free lunches.
The Huss Project farm grows produce for more than just the Saturday Farmer’s Market—we also give away vegetables on a weekly basis throughout the summer for anyone in need. In 2025, 23% of all food grown at the Huss Project was given away through various distribution channels such as our Tuesday veggie distributions, the Three Rivers Food Site, the County Closet, and Loads of Love events. Corey Lake Orchards, Butternut Sustainable Farms, and Full Circle Farm partnered with us, as well, and together we distributed 4,505 pounds of food this year.
The Huss Project’s People’s Plot is a small, community garden located outside the Huss farm gates and is accessible to our neighbors 24/7. This summer we grew a variety of produce and herbs for folks to harvest anytime such as cherry tomatoes, kale, peppers, cucumbers, broccoli, strawberries, collard greens, and Swiss chard. It is not uncommon in the summer for us to see someone strolling the People’s Plot and collecting vegetables for their dinner, or to watch as children pick cherry tomatoes and eat them warm off the vine.
Our weekly Farmer’s Market continued to be a financially accessible option for low-income folks in 2025 as we accepted multiple forms of food assistance including SNAP, Senior Project Fresh, and Double Up Food Bucks. We also gathered tips we received throughout the market, put them toward Huss Project Fresh Food Cards (a $15 gift card that can be used to purchase any produce at our market), and then gave the cards to neighbors who came to our August Fresh Food Initiative.
This year we continued our partnership with the South Michigan Food Bank and hosted our monthly Fresh Food Initiative (FFI) on the third Saturday of each month. We served about 200 households at each distribution, which added up to over 7,000 people utilizing this critical program in 2025. Thanks to generous contributions made on Giving Tuesday this December, we were successfully able to raise over $5,000 to fund FFI for another year.
In response to the freeze of SNAP funding in Michigan this November, we also hosted two Emergency Food Distributions in partnership with the South Michigan Food Bank. Anyone in need was eligible to receive a bag of canned goods and shelf-stable foods, as well as a bag of fresh apples donated by Corey Lake Orchards. With two different distribution dates and the efforts of several volunteers, we were able to serve over 400 households at these emergency events.
As we look ahead to 2026, we are inspired by what is possible and we remain committed to making food accessibility a reality for all. With your continued support and donations, we can reach even more families and create lasting change in our community’s food landscape.
Thank you!