Some say an idea is like being struck by lightning, or a light bulb switching on above someone’s head. But what if an idea was like a farm? It would take many hands to work the rich soil, plant the seed of the idea, nurture it and watch it grow. It would take a community to bear the fruit of their idea, and in return it would feed them all.
More than two dozen people attended the southeast Kansas Farm-to-Fork Summit. The summit was the result of many organizations working together, including Kansas Rural Center (KRC) and GROW Allen County. Their goals were to understand the farm and food challenges of southeast Kansas and understand the policies needed to help more farmers grow fruit and vegetables for local citizens.
“The truth is, our current food system is failing Kansans,” said Cole Cottin, program coordinator of KRC.
A shortage of diversity in what farmers grow and a shift of agricultural economics to global markets has left local markets neglected, she said. Rural grocery stores are closing across the state, making it more difficult for people to shop for fresh produce. These zones where people have to travel far to find fresh and healthful food are called food deserts.
“The food desert issue is not just an urban issue. We have lots of rural food deserts across Kansas,” said Eileen Horn, Douglas County sustainability coordinator.
Kansas is far behind on fruit and vegetable production and consumption. Less than 4 percent of the $760 million Kansans spend annually on fruit and vegetables are locally grown, and the average Kansan eats less than two servings of fruit or vegetables per day, instead of the recommended five or more.
However, there are signs of positive change. There has been a resurgence of home gardening and in the last 30 years, the number of farmers markets in Kansas has quadrupled.
“In southeast Kansas there is a strong representation of farmers,” said Julie Mettenburg, executive director of KRC. “That’s encouraging and I think that bodes well for this region.”
Presenters at the summit showed local farmers and advocates some of the projects done in other areas. In Lawrence, for example, they have a program called Common Ground that transforms unused city-owned lots into community gardens and orchards. The gardens have produced an estimated 40,000 pounds of food.
One of the problems identified by Horn and the ongoing projects in Douglas County is a lack of transport, processing and packaging for locally grown produce. The reason a lot of grocery stores do not carry local produce is not because of health codes or laws, but because they can’t get enough of it in bulk to justify giving it shelf space. Many of the fruit and vegetable farmers in Douglas County were farming on less than five acres of property, so one farmer alone can not produce enough bulk goods for sale. To get around this problem, a food hub is needed to combine all of the produce grown by farmers in a region, process it and ship it out all at once.
Allen County differs from Douglas County in many ways, so not all of the lessons learned by KRC and other groups in Douglas County can be transferred directly here. Allen County has a smaller population base, for example, but a lot of the projects and programs that Douglas County had to build from scratch are already available here, like Thrive Allen County and GROW Allen County.
“Allen County has all the pieces of the puzzle,” said Mike Hoey, who traveled from Independence, Mo., to attend the summit. “It’s an incredible group of people that came together.”
Others agreed that Allen County was off to a good start, it just needs to pool its resources and people together to work toward a common goal.
Anthony Randles, physical activity and nutrition program manager for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said his favorite part of the summit was the round table discussions because there were so many people with different perspectives that had a chance to be heard.
“There’s a lot I learned,” he said. “I think I have a little bit better understanding of what is needed in southeast Kansas.”
The Farm-to-Fork Summit in Iola was the second of four planned for this year. The first was held in Greensburg. The next two will be held in Colby and Concordia. For more information visit kansasruralcenter.org or thriveallencounty.org
