The Sara Hardy Downtown Farmers Market is a pillar of Traverse City’s Downtown Development Authority.

Since 2011, SEEDS has been contracted by the Traverse City DDA to serve as the market’s manager. Each year we make a point to integrate youth and members of our EcoCorps as market assistants. In this way we share our love of small-scale agriculture and showcase the economic flow from farm to market to table.

The market is open Wednesday and Saturday mornings from the beginning of May through the end of October with 100+ vendors each year. Since 2020, a weekly online pickup has been offered year round.

A part of SEEDS role is to manage different food assistance currencies accepted at the market, such as SNAP, Double Up Food Bucks, Project Fresh, and Senior Project Fresh. These programs make fresh produce more accessible to our community, and also provide revenue to our farmers, bringing in tens of thousands of dollars each season.