At Petoskey’s Bear Creek Organic Farm, every meal is seed to field to your picnic table.
This article first appeared in Traverse Northern Michigan. Find this story and more when you explore our magazine library. Want Traverse delivered to your door or inbox monthly? View our print subscription and digital subscription options.
In the rolling countryside of Petoskey, Anne and Brian Bates are building community connection through food, one seed at a time. Bear Creek is the first USDA organic farm in Petoskey, the first B-Corp certified farm in the state and Real Organic Project–verified. A native of Virginia, Bates visited 40 states before choosing to put down roots here in 2013, thanks to Northern Michigan’s latitude and abundance of fresh water. The plan was to create a small homestead, but 11 years later, the vision for the 77-acre property has, well, grown.
Today, Bear Creek Organic Farm is home to an on-site market that stocks the farms’ own bounty—leafy greens, gorgeous tomatoes, plump pumpkins—alongside a lineup of pantry staples, meats, eggs, milk and treats (think passionfruit and sesame dark chocolate bars and rich frozen custard) from Michigan producers.
Photo by Allison Jarrell Acosta
Photo by Allison Jarrell Acosta
“We believe bringing people together around food is invaluable to the human condition,” Brian says. “We are cultivating relationships between growers/producers and customers, as well as connecting people on a deeper level with their food. When people connect with their food, there is opportunity to embed health, trust and stability.”
The Farmside Kitchen food truck, open May through October, is the newest idea to be sown. The menu shares the farm’s seasonal story through its soups, salads and sandwiches: just-harvested onions are sliced, breaded and fried to become what may be the best onion rings you’ll ever eat; grass-fed burgers are layered with black garlic sauce and mixed greens; and caprese paninis on house-made focaccia are adorned with micro basil and balsamic glaze.
“[We see] our products through the whole food cycle, from seed to field to shelf to table,” Anne says. “Whether people are spending time in our greenhouses picking plants to grow in their home garden, browsing our shelves in the market for local and Michigan-based products or enjoying a meal from our food truck on the front lawn, we are proud to say that good food is happening here.”
Photo by Allison Jarrell Acosta