Orchard owners penalized for their traditional views on marriage, win legal battle

A six-year legal battle came to a close this year when a district court ruled in favor of Country Mill Farms' right to sell at a local farmer's market from which they had been ousted due to their traditional views on marriage. 

Steve and Bridget Tennes are the owners of Country Mill Farms in Charlotte, Michigan. Steve grew up on the farm, and returned as an adult with his wife and children to continue the family business. The Tenneses take great pride in providing fresh, delicious produce to their customers, and are active members of their community.

“Our family farm here is very personal to us,” Steve said. “One of the things we really enjoy about our family farm here is [that] we are able to raise our . . . children here at the farm in accordance with our faith.”

The Tenneses are devout Catholics, and regard the work they do on their farm as a way of living out their faith. They provide friendly service to all customers regardless of background, donate large quantities of apples to area food banks, provide comfortable, high quality housing on the farm for seasonal workers, and participate in the Farmer Veteran Coalition, which helps veterans become farmers following their service (both Steve and Bridget are U.S. veterans).

Despite their esteemed place in the community, the Tenneses became the target of discrimination by the nearby city of East Lansing in 2016, when someone posted a question on the farm's Facebook page asking Steve to describe his beliefs about marriage. Steve answered he believes that marriage is between one man and one woman, consistent with the teachings of the Catholic church. He said he "honors his religious belief when hosting and participating in weddings at Country Mill.”

Less than two days after Steve's reply, city officials from East Lansing, where the farmer's market is located, started pushing the Tenneses to pull out of the next upcoming market. 

Country Mill Farms had been a beloved vendor at the East Lansing farmer's market since 2010 with no prior complaints made against them. Customers loved their fresh produce and impeccable service so much that the vendor selection committee invited them back to the market year after year. 

When Steve persisted in attending the market, city officials went a step further, creating a new policy that effectively prohibited Country Mill Farms from selling at the farmer's market in the future.  The city officials prevented the vendor selection committee from inviting Country Mill Farms to the market in 2017, and when Steve applied on his own, the city pulled his application from the review process. 

Country Mill Farms is located 22 miles outside of East Lansing, unquestioningly outside their jurisdiction. 

The Tenneses proceeded to file a lawsuit against the City of East Lansing in partnership with Alliance Defending Freedom (ADL).

ADL comments, “The city had banned Steve and Bridget from the farmer’s market not because of something they did, but because of their beliefs about marriage.”

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Steve reflects on his choice to file the lawsuit:

This was a tough decision we had to make seven years ago when we were faced with the choice of providing for our family like we always had, or walking away from our religious beliefs. And as parents and as veterans, that was a very tough decision to make.

While a court ruling allowed the Tenneses to continue selling at the market while the lawsuit proceeded, the case took six years to come to a close. In August 2023, the district court ruled in favor of the Tenneses and allowed them to return to the farmer's market without discrimination or restriction.

The ADL explains the verdict:

The court said East Lansing officials tried to force the Tennes family to choose between their beliefs and ‘a government benefit for which they were otherwise qualified,’ which is a clear First Amendment violation.

The reason is simple: denying a person an equal share of the rights, benefits, and privileges enjoyed by other citizens because of [his] faith discourages religious activity,' the court wrote in its ruling.

Steve realizes that this win is about something much bigger than his own family:

We're glad that we were able to go forward with this and the court has come out with a strong ruling that helps not just our family, but really people of all backgrounds and beliefs to realize that the government can't choose to punish some people just because they don't like their beliefs.