YEAR-ROUND ALLEN FARMERS MARKET EVERY WEDNESDAY
Every week at the Allen Farmers Market is a little different. To learn more about this week’s activities, what vendors to expect and for more information click on: THIS WEEK AT THE MARKET.
Don’t receive the Market Alert yet? Sign up to find our who and what will be at the market each week here: Market Alert
Connect with us on social media! We’re actively posting on Instagram and Facebook and love engaging with our neighbors there.
CELEBRATING OUR 20TH SUMMER SEASON!
May 2024 marks the 20th summer season of the Allen Farmers Market!
The season is from May 15 through October 30, 2024 every Wednesday from 3 – 6:30PM (7PM for festivals). The Market takes over both the parking lot under the beautiful mural on the corner of Shepard and E Kalamazoo Streets as well as inside the Greatroom (1629 E Kalamazoo).
Each week enjoy live entertainment, diverse food and produce vendors, community partners and engagement and an overall fun vibe to do your weekly shopping at pedicab rides. Plus you can enjoy a free pedicab ride to and from nearby homes/off-site parking, along with monthly festivals celebrating seasonal produce and activities. Our market has always supported local, good food, but also has strong roots in having fun and providing a sense of place and belonging.
Count on the Allen Farmers Market for fresh produce from mid-Michigan farms, the highest quality meat, artisan baked breads, gluten-free goods, eggs, coffee and more. It’s more important than ever to buy your groceries from local sources. Our supply chains for food are vulnerable and your support of the local food system helps strengthen it, while ensuring quality in taste.
We accept a variety of payment options including debit and credit cards, SNAP, EBT, Double Up Food Bucks and Senior Project Fresh.
Our market has always supported local, good food, but also has strong roots in having fun and providing a sense of place and belonging.
Are you interested in adding to our Market? We are always accepting applications, however, greater consideration will be given to the submissions we receive by March 10, 2024. Please follow the appropriate link below for consideration:
Farmer/Food Vendor Application
Entertainment Application to Perform at the Market
Craft Vendor Application
Any questions and/or for more information, you can contact Market Manager, Jenny at (517) 999-3911 or email jennyw@allenneighborhoodcenter.org.
Sign up for our weekly Market Alert to find out who and what will be at the market each week.
For the Summer 2024 season, you can expect to see these vendors:
Bendy Stem Farm
Native perennial plants
Clean Refillery
Dish Soap, Laundry Detergent, Shampoo, Conditioner, Body wash, body lotion, Soap, Swedish Dishcloths, Dish Brushes, Wool Dryer Balls, Stain Sticks, All purpose cleaner: Home and personal care items.
G3 Food 4 All of Michigan
Gluten Free Bakery Goods(Dairy free & Vegan options), Lemonade or Ice Tea, occasional hot foods
Handheld Food Co.
Made to order street food
Highwater Farms
Microgreens – mild & spicy; pea shoots; sunflower shoots; various vegetable, herb, flower starts; asparagus; summer and cusa squash; tomatoes; potatoes; honey; ground cherries; grapevine wreaths; garlic and garlic braids
Hillcrest Farms
Fresh Market Vegetables, Strawberries, Blueberries, Tree Fruit, limited Flowers
Hometown Hone
Knife, scissors, yard tools, mower blade etc sharpening
Khoua’s Veggies
Lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, red amaranth, basil/thai basil, sugar snap peas, green/yellow beans, green onions, potatoes, etc.
Mycophile’s Garden
Wild & cultivated fresh mushrooms, mushroom tinctures, mushroom jerky, mushroom tea blends, grow-your-own mushroom grow kits, t-shirts, mushroom stickers, pawpaws in the Fall
Nasi and Mee
Malaysian Chinese Food Cuisine, Beverages & Snow Cones
Nature’s 92
Wildcrafted sea moss products: smoothies, gel, soap & more
Naughty Goat Farm
Freeze dried candy/produce & jams/jellies
Not So Wild Flowers
Flower Bouquets
Picnic Food Truck
Vegan, vegetarian, and non-veg sandwiches, burgers & fries
San Fili Meats/Cesario Foods
Fresh sausages and dry cured salami, including: Italian Sausage (hot and mild); Barese breakfast sausage; fresh bulk Mexican chorizo; lamb sausage; soppressata; dried Spanish chorizo; pitina
Silly Little Sweets
Macarons, cookies, & baked goods
Stone Circle Bakehouse
Seasonally fresh breads and pastry
Stone Cold Pops
Variety of Popsicles
The Wandering Espresso
Bags of coffee beans
Tomac Pumpkins
Starter plants, pumpkins, gourds, maple syrup, honey
Wooden Shoe Herb Farm
Bath and body, jams and jellies, flowers, lavender products, dried herbs and lavender products
Youth Service Corp
Teas, beverages, & crafts
FIND THESE VENDORS IN THE ACCELERATOR KITCHEN:
Mr. Leslie’s Cheesecakes
Different varieties of cheesecake
Tantay
Authentic Peruvian Cuisine
Hong Kong
Chinese food, including dumplings, steamed buns, and crab rangoons
For folks that may want to be involved in the Allen Farmers Market as a food vendor, or for more information, contact Jenny at (517) 999-3911 or email jennyw@allenneighborhoodcenter.org.
It’s the support from our stakeholders that allow us to provide resources and activities for our community each week and improve the functionality and accessibility of the Market. Thank you to our 2023 Allen Farmers Market Sponsors!
Festival Sponsors
Day Sponsors
COVID-19 Precautions
- We encourage mask wearing however, they are not mandatory.
- Please be mindful of your proximity to others and limit touching of products as well as the number of people in your shopping party.
- Practice patience & grace with your neighbors.
- Thank you for shopping local!
Our Mission
We will create a sustainable market that, as part of a larger food system, will provide a) all Eastside residents with access to affordable, locally-grown produce and other locally processed foods and b) small local farmers and artisans with an economically viable market for their goods. Most importantly, we will build rural-urban connections and grower-neighbor friendships that contribute to a secure and equitable food system.
Our History
Our first market season in 2004 was just 10 weeks long, featuring 4 female farmers. In 2005, we became the first market in Michigan to accept EBT/SNAP food assistance! We have increased our accessibility to our widely diverse neighbors by accepting a variety of payment options, including SNAP/EBT, year-round Double Up Food Bucks, WIC and Market Fresh coupons, and credit/debit cards.
Allen Farmers Market has grown into a thriving weekly market that provides our neighborhood with access to fresh produce and other delicious products, a convivial atmosphere to visit with neighbors, and opportunities to engage with each other and share diverse resources and perspectives.
Our Values
- Place. We seek to serve the residents of the Eastside and the growers closest to Lansing’s urban center and to strengthen Eastside neighborhoods and the local economy.
- Diversity. We seek to offer a diversity of produce and products for sale at the market, and to ensure that the vendors, volunteers, and shoppers reflect the economic, demographic, and cultural diversity of the Eastside neighborhoods.
- Inclusiveness. We seek to engage the rich diversity of our community, and will not tolerate behavior that discriminates on the basis of age, race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, physical handicap, national origin, ethnicity, citizenship, marital status, parental status (including pregnancy), disability, height, weight, political affiliation, and membership in any labor organization.
- Balance. We seek to balance economic, social, environmental, and educational concerns in all market decisions and activity. No single set of concerns will dominate; each will improve the others.
- Scale. We seek to maintain the “personality” of the market. The market will not grow beyond what is necessary to fulfill its mission. We will grow slowly in order to retain a friendly, intimate atmosphere.
- Justice. We seek to build a food system that provides healthy, affordable food to low income urban residents and a fair return to small and/or organic farmers, populations that have been largely ignored by the industrial food system.
- Community. We seek to create a social space in which neighbors can make and strengthen friendships as well as a forum where urban consumers can build relationships with rural growers.
CONNECT WITH US!
Sign up for our Market Alert to find out who and what will be at the market each week.
For more information about the Allen Farmers Market, contact:
Jenny Wagemann, Farmers Market Manager at 517-999-3911 or jennyw@allenneighborhoodcenter.org