Seed Award Spotlight: Danu Hof Family Farm

In our “Seed Award Spotlight” series, we asked the Fall 2024 Seed Award winners about their experience as a food or farm entrepreneur, including the passion behind their business, and their vision for positive change in their community. This January, 18 Seed Award winners were chosen to receive seed funding totaling almost $250,000. These grants represent not just financial investment, but an acknowledgment of the vital role farms and food distributors play in advancing Michigan’s food value chain.

Among these dedicated entrepreneurs is Danu Hof Family Farm, a beacon of sustainable farming and culinary commitment located just north of Mancelona, Michigan. Founded by a couple with deep roots in hospitality and culinary arts, Danu Hof has transformed their dream into a thriving reality. Since establishing their farm in 2017, they have revitalized a piece of rural Michigan and created a robust local food system that includes everything from raising pigs and chickens to growing a wide array of vegetables and offering culinary services like catering and cooking classes.

Keep reading to learn more about Danu Hof Family Farm and how they’re blending their love for the land with culinary expertise to enrich their community and enhance Michigan’s food landscape.

Name: Caitlin McSweeney-Steffes
Business Name: Danu Hof

What does being selected as a Seed Award winner mean to you personally, and how does it reflect on the journey of your business so far?               

That the hard work is paying off. Being selected as a seed award winner means so much to us. It helps validate that the work we are trying to do to make good healthy local food accessible to all in our community is important even as we run into many bumps.

We will be able to cover investments and grow more efficiently. Allow us to pay for program changes that we are partnered with and view as valued and important. It shows us that the hard work and perseverance we have put in up to this point has not been all in vain and we do have like-minded partners willing to work with us. This will be a big boost to our capabilities on the farm. It will help us to be able to make improvements in one year rather than in multiple years.

In what ways will the Seed Award funding support your immediate and long-term business goals?

The seed award funding supports our immediate and long-term business goals by helping us to more efficiently and effectively grow. Produce more for our local community, markets, and counties. This will speed up our capabilities for planting, irrigation, and care of produce space. It will help us to be able to expand our crops growing season, weed control, and make harvest nearly effortless. All these things will allow our farm to meet long-term produce goals.

Can you share your vision for the positive changes this award will enable you to make in your business and the broader community?               

The positive changes this award will enable us to make in our business is a better expansion of our fresh produce. For our broader community, we can send more local produce in our schools. As well as allow more access for those who participate in WIC, Senior Project Fresh, SNAP and Double Up Food Bucks systems at our farm store and local farmers markets.

What led you to start your business? What motivates you to do what you do?

We are both chefs originally and deeply rooted in our food system. We originally started because being a part of the food system we experienced how broken it can be. At first we wanted a better and different system for our growing family. We soon realized how important it was to have a local food system. We lucked out by having a local weekly farm market that welcomed us in. There is a long way to go but we wanted to be a part of that change and help to rebuild our local rural communities. The best way to do that is to be the change that we want to see. Hopefully we can be a drop in the bucket and cause a ripple that will help to create the change.

Want to try fresh produce from Danu Hof? Visit their website to find their Mancelona location or view online ordering options. Be sure to follow them on Facebook and Instagram.