From Field to Market

A Conversation with Farmer Megan Lowlor Korovesis

For many of us, a farmers market is where we stop on a Saturday morning, pick up fresh produce, and maybe chat with a vendor or two. But for small farmers, getting to market is the culmination of months of planning, planting, and hard work. As the Ypsilanti Farmers Market prepares to move downtown this season, we sat down with Megan Lowlor Korovesis of Field & Forest Farm to talk about what it means to grow food, build community, and why this market is such a special place to sell.

The First Market: "A Huge Triumph"

Julius Buzzard: Megan, I want to start with your very first day at the Ypsilanti Farmers Market. Can you take me back to that moment? What did it feel like to step behind the table as a vendor for the first time?

Megan Lowlor Korovesis: Oh, it was a huge triumph. I remember looking at our stand, filled with fresh produce, and thinking, Wow, we actually did it. There’s so much work that goes into growing food, and that first market was the moment where it all came together. Seeing people stop, buy our food, and even come back week after week—it was incredible. It made all the effort feel so worth it.

JB: What was that effort like? I think a lot of people don’t realize just how much goes into getting food to market.

MLK: Oh, absolutely. The work starts long before market day. In February—sometimes even earlier—we’re already sowing seeds. Every step after that is a hurdle: making sure the seedlings survive, preparing the fields, keeping pests away, harvesting, washing, packing. And then there’s the unpredictability of it all—maybe the weather doesn’t cooperate, or a crop doesn’t grow the way you planned. By the time you get to market, you’ve already put in months of work.

And most of what we do is by hand. Small-scale farming is physically demanding, labor-intensive work, but it’s a labor of love. When someone comes to our stand and tells us how much they enjoyed the food, it makes every bit of effort feel worthwhile.

Beyond Buying Food: Farmers Markets as Community Spaces

JB: One of the things I love about farmers markets is how they bring people together—it’s not just about buying food, it’s about connecting with the people who grow it. Has being a vendor changed the way you think about food and community?

MLK: Absolutely. When you sell at a farmers market, you’re not just putting food on a shelf and hoping people buy it—you’re talking to people, hearing their stories, answering their questions.

I love when customers come back and tell me what they made with what they bought. Maybe they tried a new recipe or discovered that a fresh, local carrot tastes completely different from what they’re used to at the grocery store. It’s also great when people ask about the farming process—why certain crops taste sweeter at certain times of the year, or how to cook a vegetable they’ve never used before. Those conversations create a deeper connection to food.

And it goes both ways. I’ve had people tell me what they’re growing in their home gardens, and we swap ideas about what’s working and what’s not. It’s this wonderful exchange of knowledge and experience that you just don’t get anywhere else.

The Market Moves Downtown: What Changes & What Stays the Same

JB: This year, the Ypsilanti Farmers Market is moving downtown to Washington Street. As a farmer, what does that shift mean for you?

MLK: I’m really excited about it. The Freight House was a great space, but downtown has so much to offer. The new location puts the market closer to other small businesses, which means people can shop at the market and then explore the area—maybe grab a coffee, check out a local shop, make a whole morning of it.

JB: Do you think it will change the feel of the market?

MLK: I think it will bring more people in, but what makes this market special will still be the same. There’s a real sense of community here. The vendors are supportive of each other, the customers are curious and engaged, and it’s a space where everyone feels welcome.

One thing I really appreciate about the Ypsi Market is that it’s intimate. Some bigger markets, like Ann Arbor’s, can be overwhelming—parking is tough, and it’s so crowded that you don’t always get the chance to talk with the farmers. Ypsi’s market is different. It’s slower-paced in the best way—you can take your time, ask questions, and really connect with the people behind the food.

Why Shopping at a Farmers Market Matters

JB: If someone has never been to the Ypsilanti Farmers Market before, how would you describe what makes it special? Why should they come out and see it for themselves?

MLK: I’d say come for the food, but stay for the experience. Yes, you’re getting fresh, local produce, but you’re also getting a chance to meet the people who grew it, to ask questions, to learn about where your food comes from. There’s a warmth to this market—people chat with each other, they linger, they share recipes. It’s not just shopping, it’s a way to be part of something bigger.

And when you buy from a local farmer, you’re not just supporting that one person—you’re investing in your community. Every dollar spent at the market stays local, helps a small farm keep going, and contributes to a food system that values sustainability, health, and connection.

What’s Next for Field & Forest Farm

JB: Before we wrap up, what’s ahead for you this season?

MLK: We’re expanding! This will be our second full growing season, and we’re adding a CSA program where people can get a weekly share of fresh produce. The Ypsilanti Farmers Market will be one of our pickup locations, which is really exciting.

We’re also continuing to experiment with new crops, moving closer to reaching our goals of being no-till, and just growing in every sense of the word. I’m looking forward to seeing familiar faces at the market, meeting new customers, and sharing the food we love to grow.

JB: It sounds like an exciting season ahead. Megan, thanks so much for taking the time to talk today—I can’t wait to visit your stand at the new downtown market.

MLK: Thank you! I’m really looking forward to it.

Visit the Ypsilanti Farmers Market

📍 New Location: 16 S. Washington Street

🗓 Opening Day: May 3, 2025 | ⏰ 9 AM – 1 PM

Want to support local farmers like Megan? Become a Friend of the Market today and invest in a thriving, just food system.

👉 Become a Friend of the Market Today!

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When Food Is Weaponized

By Julius Buzzard • July 24, 2025

Standing for Krystal Clark and the Right to Eat

The wisest plans aren't drawn, they're grown.

By Julius Buzzard • July 1, 2025

Beloved Community, The solstice has turned, and with it, so have we; from spring’s promise to summer’s abundance. Here at Growing Hope, the gardens are bursting. Our new produce stand is packed to the brim, feeding our people. The Ypsilanti Farmers Market is an eruption of flavor, fragrance, and connection with lettuces that fan open like green flames and strawberries glistening red and warm from the sun. Inside the incubator kitchen, the hum of creativity rises. Local makers prepping for pop-ups across the county, building micro-enterprises from ancestral memory and modern hustle. And our Teen Leadership Program? Alive and electric. Twelve young visionaries are learning, leading, and laboring with heart. The farm pulses with their energy. As the land leans fully into the heat of summer, I find myself reflecting, not just on the harvest, but on the moment. The landscape around us is shifting fast. This moment has been described in many different ways, but we know the truth: this is a time of hope and possibility. Hope is not naïve. It’s an act of defiance. Of imagination. Of sovereignty. In complex times, the wisest plans aren't drawn, they're grown. Last month, I had the honor of testifying before the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Agriculture . I shared what you already know: Growing Hope doesn’t just run programs. We grow possibility. We practice emergence. We tend a living ecosystem of relationships. I told them: Each year, Growing Hope supports hundreds of backyard growers through our Home Vegetable Garden program. We provide raised beds, rich soil, seedlings, and the knowledge to grow a harvest that feeds families. These aren’t symbolic plots—they’re productive, generative, and abundant. And from them, we are witnessing the reweaving of a community food web—a quiet, powerful economy of mutual aid. Tomatoes for cucumbers. Collards on porches. Elders teaching youth to save seed. These gardens offer more than food. They offer belonging. They offer resilience. They offer infrastructure—the kind that actually holds when the shocks come. This isn’t charity. This is solidarity. It’s sovereignty. It’s survival. Together, we carry resilience. Together, we cultivate hope. Together, we are growing a hyper-local, sovereign, joyful food system; one garden, one porch, one plate at a time. In solidarity and soil, Julius P.S. The future of food assistance is uncertain ; we’re collecting stories to highlight the essential role that SNAP and other food assistance programs play in the Washtenaw County local food system. Keep an eye on our blog to learn more.

Innovating for Inclusion: Lessons from Old City Acres on Digital SNAP Access

By Julius Buzzard • June 27, 2025

Old City Acres, a Ypsilanti urban farm and food hub, is one of the only farms in the region individually accredited to accept SNAP. The farm is owned and run by Alex Ball, who has lived and farmed along the Huron River his entire life. Growing up in Southeast Michigan during The Great Recession, Alex knows that people’s financial and food security can be changed overnight, and has always understood the importance of SNAP programs for community food security. Old City Acres is primarily an e-grocer–they offer home delivery and multiple in-town pickup locations for produce, but all of the produce is purchased through their online portal. When they first started taking SNAP, the intent was to integrate more SNAP users into online CSA boxes and other produce sales. Alex worked with Taste the Local Difference, a Michigan-based local food marketing organization, to generally expand e-access for local food. However, they found that there is very little demand for online SNAP sales, largely because of a lack of awareness and training on the customer side. Despite his best efforts, Alex wasn’t able to break through that barrier for e-grocery SNAP use. Despite 20% of his sales being SNAP pre-pandemic, there was such little demand after moving online that he eventually stopped advertising about e-grocery SNAP and isn’t accepting new SNAP customers (though long-term customers are still able to use SNAP). Old City Acres spends more on just maintaining their SNAP infrastructure (the Bridge card reader) than they make in profit from SNAP sales, but have decided to keep their infrastructure because when they do have their pop-up, in-person, farm stand, there is still high demand for SNAP. Because of the struggle to transfer in-person SNAP use into the e-grocery space, Old City Acres has their own internal food access programs. They offer credit packages, where investing $75 or more into the farm gives you a bonus on each dollar you spend. They also offer no-interest payment plans on all of the credit packages, and there has been a surge in demand for this option over the past year. Finally, Old City Acres also offers a $10/week for an as-much-as-you-want option geared towards students and older community members, which people can access regardless of their official SNAP eligibility. These options help fill the gap left by a lack of e-grocery SNAP use, but they also put Old City Acres in a constant battle to maintain profitability, since they’re bearing the food assistance costs internally. The farm used to be much more access-focused, but according to Alex they have been left with no choice but to raise certain prices, which is difficult in an area where the customer base is so susceptible to even small price changes (about ⅓ of the customer base makes less than 50k in household income). This has left Old City Acres in the position of having to make tough decisions, not all of which help with community food access. The lack of SNAP awareness and use in small-scale e-grocery spaces highlights one of the limitations of current food assistance programs. This post is part of a series by Emma Rose Hardy, a PhD Candidate at the University of Michigan and the Rackham Local Food Systems Intern at Growing Hope. The series aims to highlight the essential role that SNAP and other food assistance programs play in the Washtenaw County local food system.

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