The Farm at St. Joe’s Opens Registration for Farm Share Program

Registration Also Begins for 2022 Farm Summer Camps for Youth

ANN ARBOR, March 7, 2021 — The Farm at St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor and The Farm at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland are now registering individuals and families for the 2022 Farm Share Program. Additionally, The Farm at St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor is registering school-aged children for their 2022 Farm Summer Camps.

The Farm Share Program offers members a weekly or bi-weekly box of seasonal fruits and vegetables from local farms.

“As a trusted health care partner, we aim to grow a healthy community by empowering people through food, education and relationships, and we believe these programs are a great way to do that,” said Amanda Sweetman, the Regional Director of Farming and Healthy Lifestyles for Trinity Health Michigan. “If local residents can begin to think of their food as medicine, they’ll learn that it holds the antidote to so many of the chronic conditions we see in our community, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity.”

Farm share program memberships are still being offered for the summer, from July 6 – September 21. Summer produce includes cucumbers, blueberries, tomatoes, onions, eggplant and cilantro. Fall memberships, from September 28 – December 14, are also available. Fall produce includes carrots, beets, garlic, apples, potatoes and more.

The Farm Share Program is a paid membership for a six-, twelve-, eighteen- or thirty-six-week program. The cost of participation can be viewed here: www.stjoesfarm.org/farmshare. Programs available to help pay for memberships are also available, such as SNAP and EBT. A limited number of free memberships are available for members of the community in need. Please visit http://www.stjoesfarm.org/need-help-getting-food/ to learn more about available assistance.

In addition to the Farm Share Program, The Farm at St. Joe’s Ann Arbor is also offering summer camps in July for children ages four to eleven years old. Youth will get to visit the farm and learn about the science behind growing, eating and cooking fresh produce, as well as how to make the best healthy food choices for themselves and their family. Participants will gain an understanding of how we can work toward personal, environmental and community health.

There are three different camps to choose from:

• Farm to Table, Ages 4-7: Participants learn about produce and make nutritious and delicious snacks of their own. Each day includes hands-on activities and take-home recipes. Two sessions are available from July 18-22, and July 25-29. Each session is held from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. each day. The total cost is $150. Registration can be found here.
  
  

  
  
  

• Farm to Table, Ages 6-10: Participants will learn about plants, nutrition and agriculture through hands-on activities, including making a fresh snack every day. Participants will also get their hands in the dirt and get to harvest, plate and compost, and also take recipes home. Two sessions are available from July 18-22, and July 25-29. Each session runs from 1 to 4 p.m. each day. The total cost is $210. Registration can be found here.
  
  
  

• Farm, Field & Forest, Ages 8-11: Participants will get the chance to discover how to care for themselves and the environment by learning from health and nature experts, taking part in hands-on activities and going on nature walks. Participants will see the hospital-based vegetable farm up close, along with the native prairie and woods near the Huron River. The only session is July 11-15 and runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day. The total cost is $260. Registration can be found here.
  
  

  
  
  

Participants are encouraged to bring a snack, lunch and bottle of water each day. An adult chaperon must be present all five days with their child. All camps are held at The Farm at St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor, located at 5557 McAuley Drive in Ypsilanti.

For more information on summer camps available at The Farm at St. Joe’s, please visit: Education Programs – The Farm at St. Joe's (stjoesfarm.org).

About Saint Joseph Mercy Health System


Saint Joseph Mercy Health System (SJMHS) is a health care organization serving seven counties in southeast Michigan including Livingston, Washtenaw, Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Jackson, and Lenawee. It includes 548-bed St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor, 497-bed St. Joseph Mercy Oakland in Pontiac, 304-bed St. Mary Mercy Livonia, 66-bed St. Joseph Mercy Livingston in Howell, and 133-bed St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea. Combined, the five hospitals are licensed for 1,548 beds, have five outpatient health centers, six urgent care facilities, more than 25 specialty centers; employ more than 15,300 individuals and have a medical staff of nearly 2,700 physicians. SJMHS has annual operating revenues of about $2 billion and returns about $115 million to its communities annually through charity care and community benefit programs.