What Partridge Creek Farm Is All About
Impact Statement
Partridge Creek Farms impacts our community through reducing food insecurity, supporting food-based economic development, and providing learning opportunities to youth, elders, and everyone in-between on sustainable food systems through hands-on, experiential education
Mission Statement
We provide year-round food access and continuously developing education to connect the community with their food and one another.
Our Vision
The whole community grows and eats nutritious, local, and equitably produced food year-round and cares for themselves, the earth, and each other.
Dan Perkins,
Founder
Dan Perkins was born in Manhattan NYC in 1961 into a family of educators dedicated to the Civil Rights movement and ending the Vietnam war. Dan's mother, Lisa Newton (remarried) is an environmental ethics professor and writer. Her latest book on Urban Agriculture will be published later this year and includes a chapter on Partridge Creek Farm. Dan's father James Perkins was a history teacher in Harlem and later at the Dalton School and he started the Manhattan Country School in the Catskill mountains to give inner city children the experience of working and living on a farm. This farm school is still going strong more than 50 years after it's inception and Dan's experience on that farm is part of the foundation of his vision for Partridge Creek Farm.
Dan moved to Ishpeming in 1996 with his wife Pam who grew up here. He started his Metal Roofing company, Dan Perkins Construction, Inc. the following spring and now employs a crew of 15 seasoned metal installers who install roofing over the entire UP and Eastern Wisconsin. Partridge Creek Farm evolved from gardening with neighborhood children and becoming involved with their lives. A board of directors and 501c3 status was formed in 2013 and we have been building children's programing and gardens ever since.
Our Values
- We believe that our health and well-being is dependent on intentional environmental stewardship that includes planning for a variety of land uses.
- We believe in collaborating with like-minded organizations and local communities to create sustainable living.
- We believe that at the heart of economically prosperous communities are healthy and empowered citizens.
- We believe that everyone in Ishpeming can be food secure through equitable and easy access to fresh, locally grown food.
Business Model Statement
Partridge Creek Farms utilizes donations, corporate sponsorships, volunteers, strong community partnerships, grants, and revenue-generating programs to accomplish its mission.