Posted Jan 27, 2025
For Michigan farmer Vanessa Frias, the path to farming has been a unique one, rooted in education and quality food. When she and her husband started Willowbrook Farms three years ago, they had almost no experience with farming or raising animals.
However, in Vanessa’s own words, what they did have was “a will to want to learn.” It had been Vanessa’s dream to own a farm, and so through taking classes and joining memberships like the American Pastured Poultry Producers Association (APPPA) and A Greener World, she and her husband began building valuable skills in farming practices and animal care.
Today, Vanessa and her husband operate Willowbrook Farms, located a little over two hours from Chicago in Cassapolis, Michigan. Specializing in pasture-raised pork, chicken, lamb, goat, duck, and turkey, Willowbrook Farms is Animal Welfare Approved, providing high-quality foods to its customers across Michigan and the Chicago region.
The farm even operates a targeted goat grazing program, utilizing goats to help mitigate problem vegetation and weeds, eliminating the need for machinery and reducing the risk of erosion.
In addition to raising animals, Willowbrook Farms proudly boasts an agro-education component of the farm, where Vanessa and her husband educate people about agriculture, what it means to be a farmer, and the importance of knowing your food and where it comes from - core values of Green City Market’s very own Edible Education program. Willowbrook Farms joined GCM’s farmers’ markets in 2024, where they have since been a staple at our flagship market in Lincoln Park and now participants of our indoor market at Avondale.
For Vanessa, being a farmer is all about tackling the daily ups and downs. It hasn’t been the easiest road for Willowbrook Farms, however, Vanessa credits her support system of local farmers, as well as her ongoing pursuit of education within the farming space, whether it’s attending conferences, learning from other farmers, or even through trial and error.
“Every mistake is money that you lose, but it’s also the knowledge you gain,” says Vanessa.
Vanessa also faces separate challenges as a Black woman-identifying farmer in the Midwest, where after chatting with one of her customers, Natasha Hopps, at GCM Avondale, she was encouraged to share her story on the farms’ Instagram page (opens in a new window). For Natasha, there are no Black farmers in Australia where she’s from, and for Vanessa to share her own story and her success, was both inspiring and impressive.
The latest census data (opens in a new window) from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported 46,738 producers who identified as Black, accounting for only 1.4% of the country’s 3.4 million producers, located primarily in east Texas and the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states. In Michigan alone, there are 354 Black farmers who farm 19,279 acres of land across 248 farms.
In her Instagram post, Vanessa shared her own experiences of feeling overlooked, misjudged, and even doubted regarding her own ability and knowledge as a farmer.
Despite this, Vanessa finds encouragement from her customers who believe in her products and trust her farming practices: “What we’ve realized is that you continue to be you, and you continue to do you, and those who will support you will be your ideal customer [...] the customer is the person that believes in your product and trusts you as a farmer. People need to see someone that looks like you.”
For Vanessa, her drive to continue farming is rooted in determination and commitment to being good stewards of the land. When it comes to taking on challenges, Vanessa is no stranger to buckling down and facing them head-on. At Willowbrook Farms, their motto is believing in what they’re doing and trusting the process.
As the farm heads into its third year, Vanessa has these parting words: “If you have a dream, if you have a vision, if you believe in what you’re doing, it will work. I encourage you - if you have a dream, an aspiration, a belief, number one, write it down. Number two, make a plan. Number three, do it. You don’t want to work your whole life and not do what you want to do, even though it’s fearful, even though it’s scary, even though you doubt yourself. Believe in yourself and do it.”
Learn more about Willowbrook Farms on Green City Market’s website and follow Vanessa’s story on Instagram (opens in a new window).
At Green City Market, we believe farmers' markets are a powerful instrument of a local food system, and we're dedicated to creating widely accessible marketplaces for local food in Chicago where farmers can make a living wage and connect directly with their customers. Visit our calendar for upcoming market dates and support our nonprofit work to deepen support for Midwest farmers like Vanessa here.