Cultivate KC

In July, some New Roots farmers, graduates, and staff took a roadtrip to Global Greens in Des Moines, IA. Read about the trip and Global Greens and Lutheran Services in Iowa at the post on our website:

We love it when the USDA National Office comes to town! Bruce Summers, Administrator of USDA-Agricultural Marketing Service, stopped by The KC Food Hub to help announce the kickoff of the Heartland Regional Food Business Center's Business Builder grant program ($3.7m available in just the FIRST round!). And thank you to Michael Watson (After the Harvest), Kristan Chamberlain (KC Can Compost), and Thomas S. (KC Food Hub) for giving us a tour of these three orgs who are contributing so much to the local food economy and helping our region live more sustainably. Apply for Business Builders by October 15: https://lnkd.in/gkrUWued

Yesterday, Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, visited our Juniper Gardens Training Farm, home of the New Roots program. Thanks to Senator Marshall and his team for taking time to hear stories about the important impact of federal investments in local food systems from our partners at The Kansas City Food Hub, KC Farm School, JET Produce & Meats, and New Roots. We hope that the next farm bill will continue to invest in programs like Local Food Purchase Assistance and Double Up Food Bucks that get more healthy, local food onto the tables of those who need it most and strengthen local agriculture businesses.

Yesterday, Cultivate KC and our partners hosted USDA Deputy Under Secretary Gloria Montaño Greene at Juniper Gardens Training Farm to announce the award of a $2.5 million grant through the USDA’s Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program to help increase access to land and resources for historically underserved farmers throughout the Kansas City metro. Attendees included Jake Wessel from Senator Jerry Moran's office, Kelli Montgomery from Congressman Emanuel Cleaver's Office, Dennis McKinney, State Executive Director of the USDA Farm Service Agency in Kansas and Joe Aull, State Executive Director of the USDA Farm Service Agency in Missouri. “𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘚𝘈 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭-𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘴,” says Brien Darby, Cultivate KC Executive Director. We’d also love to thank all the attendees from other agencies throughout KS and MO who are working to improve land access for farmers, and all the Cultivate KC board members who were able to join us! For more on the grant program visit: https://lnkd.in/gDxAQQEh

Sophia Ong, who served as a K-State Local Food Fellow with our team this summer, has finished up a price data collection project across farmers' markets in the Kansas City Metro area. She collected prices at nineteen different markets four times each throughout the summer. She has posted her second set of downloadable data here: https://lnkd.in/gbjWjHaY We really enjoyed working with Sophia this summer and know this data will be helpful for area farmers! You can also learn more about Sophia and her fellowship project here: https://lnkd.in/gKHxgh-g

𝗬𝗲𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘄, 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀! Midtown Hoedown tickets are now on sale. It's going to be a heck-of-a party, so check out the details as they develop and GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!

We are SO GRATEFUL to Longfellow Farm for agreeing to host Midtown Hoedown this year. We have set up two MVP Workdays to help them prepare for this big party. Please take a look at these two dates and see if you're available to lend a hand: https://lnkd.in/gbDbF7Sr https://lnkd.in/gF53PnkH

MVP Workdays are still going strong! Last week a group helped out at Global One Urban Farming - including helping Stan and Katy from Missouri Organic Recycling set up a compost system! This week the MVPs will head to George Washington Carver Farm. Sign up for an MVP Workday here: https://lnkd.in/gbrn_xnc

It's super SHORT NOTICE, but we wanted everyone to see this open position:

Cultivate KC organizes several cooperative orders each year to help area farmers take advantage of bulk pricing discounts. $100 per month helps local farmers save around $7,000 a year on fertilizers, seed potatoes, and other supplies they need to grow food for our community. 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝗹𝘆 𝗴𝗶𝗳𝘁𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀. Join us in supporting KC farmers with a recurring donation. Join the Dripline today: cultivatekc.org/donate