Patrick Randolph had just left his desk job to help manage a small CSA farm when an idea first crossed his mind: “It would be great if there was a place I could drop off [the farm’s] food, and they would sell it for me,” he recalls. He looked into it and found a shop called Argus Farm Stop in Ann Arbor, Michigan, doing exactly that.
Now, eight years later, Randolph opened Grandad’s Farm Stop in a former auto garage at 3802 Mineral Point Road, where farmers retain ownership of their goods and set their own prices.
“I just want to make small farmers’ lives just a little bit easier,” Randolph says. “They work nonstop growing incredible food to nourish their communities. They deserve every advantage we can give them.” In addition to his own farming experience, the shop is inspired by (and named after) Randolph’s grandfather, who worked as a farmer until age 88.
Besides produce, Grandad’s sells fresh flowers, dairy and meat products, and prepared meals. The shop also has a drink bar that serves coffee from Wisconsin-based Ruby Coffee Roasters…