This collaborative event was held on April 13 & 20, 2021. The event engaged stakeholders
in meaningful conversations to network and discuss the greater Kansas City food system.
View presentations below.
"Here We Grow: Food Waste and Climate Resilience in the Kansas City Region" Tom Jacobs | Director of Environmental Programs, Mid-America Regional Council (MARC)
"Product Sourcing to Minimize Waste" Brian Fry | Director of Acquisitions, Harvesters Community Food Network
Panel Discussion
Terrell Dyer Project RALLY
Max Kaniger Kanbe's Markets
Teresa Kelly KC Food Hub
"What鈥檚 Next for the Kansas City Food System?" Featuring Terrell Dyer, Founder, Project RALLY; Max Kaniger, Founder, Kanbe鈥檚 Markets;
Teresa Kelly, Supply Chain Specialist, KC Food Hub
is a nonprofit organization providing access to fresh, affordable and healthy foods
to people experiencing food insecurity through . By providing innovative food delivery systems that are more inclusive, enhance small
businesses and empower individuals to make healthy choices, we step closer toward
an equitable future of food.
is a nonprofit organization that seek to create and innovate ideas to enrich its
communities with concepts that present long term solutions oriented around Respect,
Accountability, Love, m88体育 and Youth (R.A.L.L.Y.). Project Rally is working
toward developing a hoslitic approach to supporting the community through their vision
of building a .
The is a farmer-owned and farmer-run cooperative of family and non-profit farms that
aggregate produce, protein, and value-added goods to meet the demands of Kansas City鈥檚
middle market including schools, corporate cafeterias, restaurants, and grocery stores.
Our farmers grow on 400 acres, have 325 years of collective experience, and operate
forty high tunnels and greenhouses for all-season production.
The KC Food Hub improves the economic viability of sustainable local agriculture by
coordinating year-round production, supporting emerging growers, and by bringing farmers
and buyers together. The KC Food Hub creates a more food secure metro by connecting
its residents with food produced locally.
K-State Research and Extension Rapid Response Center -
Home food preservation is a way to preserve the freshness of homegrown food. Learn
proper food preservation techniques, including tips for canning, making jams and jellies,
pickling and dehydrating.
University of Missouri Extension is committed to using the latest research-based guidelines
to give consumers the tools they need to safely succeed when preserving food at home.
They provide hands-on workshops, fact sheets and answers to questions on canning,
freezing, dehydrating and storing food products for long term storage.
The mission of the Johnson County Food Policy Council is to improve the health and
well-being of individuals, the community and our environment through a just, equitable
and sustainable food system in Johnson County. Through policy recommendations, education
and collaborations, we strive to increase access to healthful food that is locally
produced when available.
The purpose of the Greater KC Food Policy Coalition is to Strengthen our regional
food system to provide healthy, affordable food for everyone in Greater Kansas City.
The Coalition includes grass-tops leaders from all critical segments of our regional
food system.
In 2017, we drove the design and adoption of the comprehensive to guide the creation of a local food system that promotes health, economic vitality,
sustainability, and equity. The plan itself is founded on principles of inclusion,
drawing from the experiences and perspectives of residents from diverse cultural,
ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds through nearly a year of public engagement,
which deliberately sought the voices of traditionally underrepresented and unreached
members of the community.
MARC is a nonprofit association of city and county governments and the metropolitan
planning organization for the bistate Kansas City region. Governed by a Board of Directors
made up of local elected officials, we serve . We provide a forum for the region to work together to advance social, economic and
environmental progress. MARC鈥檚 environmental programs include the and the , which includes a section dedicated to food waste.
After the Harvest (ATH) rescues nutritious fruits and vegetables from going to waste
and donates them to agencies that serve hungry people, primarily in Greater Kansas
City. Our volunteers glean after the harvest, picking what鈥檚 left in farmers鈥� fields and picking up already harvested leftover
produce. The majority of the funds we raise helps secure semi-truckloads of donated
produce that might otherwise end up in landfills.
Harvesters is a nonprofit, regional food bank serving a of northwestern Missouri and northeastern Kansas. Harvesters provides food and related
household products to more than 760 nonprofit agencies including emergency food pantries,
community kitchens, homeless shelters, children鈥檚 homes and others. They also offer
education programs to increase community awareness of hunger and teach about good
nutrition.
Harvesters is a certified member of , a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks. Harvesters also is a regional
disaster-relief staging site for Feeding America. We are prepared to distribute food,
water and cleaning supplies to disaster sites on short notice. Harvesters鈥� mission
is to feed hungry people today and work to end hunger tomorrow.
Bridging The Gap (BTG) works to make the Kansas City region sustainable by 鈥渃onnecting
environment, economy and community,鈥� and is the premier organization in the area providing
environmental education and volunteer action through more than 1,500 volunteers annually.
BTG has a long history of being a major force in educating Kansas Citians about the
environment and establishing recycling and other sound behaviors in the region. However,
the greatest testimony of success are the thousands of trees planted, the millions
of pounds of emissions averted, the protection of native ecosystems, litter-free neighborhoods,
and the competitiveness of community businesses through energy efficiency and reduced
waste.
Additionally, Bridging the Gap hosts the , which educates, connects and inspires hundred of metro area businesses to implement
sustainable initiatives in the workplace.
KCCG is a non-profit membership organization that helps people grow vegetables and
fruit from garden plots and orchards located in backyards, schoolyards, vacant lots
and community sites. KCCG offers low-cost seed and plant varieties chosen to thrive
in the Kansas City climate along with garden resources, free educational workshops
and technical assistance鈥� all to help your garden and orchard thrive! KCCG Programs
assist gardens and orchards across the Kansas City Metro area; whether you are an
individual gardener or part of a school or an organization, KCCG can help you grow
your own nutritious food!
For over a decade, New Roots for Refugees has empowered families from the refugee
community to start farm businesses by growing and selling produce through farmer鈥檚
markets, wholesale, and the New Roots Farm Share. At the Juniper Gardens Training
Farm, farmers are given a quarter-acre plot to grow vegetables such as tomatoes, beets,
spinach, green onions, lettuce, eggplants, and more. Farmers bring agricultural expertise
from their home country and continue to learn more about growing sustainably in the
Midwestern climate.
Food Equality Initiative (FEI) is the nation鈥檚 leading organization working to increase
access to allergy friendly and gluten free foods to individuals who need them the
most. the organization has been at the forefront of a movement calling attention
to the challenges of living with food allergies and celiac disease. Presenting at
national conferences and advocating for the inclusion of more allergy friendly and
gluten free foods in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women Infants
and Children鈥檚 (WIC) Food Package have all been central in an effort to increase access
in all communities.
At Just Food, they are a reflection of the community they serve. Through connection
with businesses, organizations, schools, volunteers, local government and individuals
they are able to identify gaps within our food system and solve problems strategically.
It is because of these partnerships that they are able to bridge the gap from being
food insecure to ensuring that folks in our community are fed healthy foods without
barriers.
Missouri Organics began accepting food waste in 2004 through their award-winning FRED
program (Food Residuals Environmental Division), with the support of the and . Every year they divert more than 32 million pounds of food waste from area landfills.
KC Can Compost is an innovative enterprise committed to the transformation of Kansas
City鈥檚 social and environmental landscapes. They not only collect organic waste and
divert it from the landfill for composting but also educate and train men and women
struggling to overcome barriers to employment for work in green industry jobs.
KC Can Compost鈥檚 provides environmental literacy and work readiness training to individuals with barriers
to employment and then provides assistance to graduates to help them obtain green
internships or jobs.
KDHE BWM recently developed a new fact sheet for addressing a food waste bucket exchange. If the storage/compost site is over
1/2 acre, a is required. If less than 1/2 acre, is required.
Food waste composting is included in the Source-Separated category in
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