Six area school districts are currently working through West Central Missouri Community Action Agency to find and purchase local foods. Another 15 are exploring the farm-to-school opportunity with help from West Central’s Farm to School Specialist. State reimbursement up to $1,000 is available.
Show your stuff in the national Farm to School crunch off! Up to $1,000 is available from the Missouri Department of Agriculture to schools that buy local produce by November 1, 2022. Help finding and working with local providers is available from our Farm to School Specialist.
The new Demystifying Wholesale video series features farmer-to-farmer advice on producing, packing, and marketing vegetables for local wholesale markets. It is produced by the Food Systems Program at West Central Missouri Community Action Agency as part of its Beginning Farmer Wholesale Project in association with the Growing Growers KC program.
Strawberries are here! And again this year, friends, family, and neighbors with limited budgets will be able to take locally produced fruits and vegetables home with them thanks to the Double Up Food Bucks Program. Seven farmers’ markets in west central Missouri participate. They are part of a national wave of communities adopting the Double Up Food Bucks approach to helping families, farmers, and communities grow healthy.
Katie Nixon is a farmer and a leader in the good food movement as Food Systems Director at West Central Missouri Community Action Agency. Backroad Production’s IN FOCUS podcast recently featured a conversation with Katie about several regional food and farm development initiatives, including her work with the New Growth community development corporation team.