VAN BUREN COUNTY, MI — For the past 80 years, the Mitchell family has been growing blueberries on land that’s been passed down through the generations.
At one time, that wasn’t unusual in their part of Van Buren County. Today it is.
“So, the two (former) family farms,” said Kyle Mitchell, motioning to neighboring farms, “they’re both owned by big processors. And then the farm across the street, that was my best friend’s family’s farm that’s now owned by some people from Chicago, but it’s run by True Blue (True Blue Farms, one of the largest blueberry growers in America). And then the farm next door is still owned by our neighbor who was down there when we grew up, but that’s also managed by True Blue…