Star Neely loves fresh tomatoes.
That’s why she and her husband first started gardening in 2009.
Today, they own a 1.5 acre farm in the Vineyard District where they grow over 30,000 pounds of fresh produce, providing it to the local community at no cost.
When the Neely family first took control of the Cypress Avenue property (now the site of Global One Urban Farming), it was a garbage dump.
“We found 82 tires,” Neely said. “There was nothing here.”
Neely showed off various crops and projects around the farm and regularly answered questions from the enthusiastic volunteers and apprentices who work around the farm.
It’s still early in the growing season, but the team has already harvested large fields of green beans to share with the surrounding community, which Neely said is classified as a food desert by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Because of this, Neely’s farm also serves as a local distribution center for the Eastside community, collecting thousands of pounds of produce donated each week by Loffredo’s Fresh Foods, Kambes Market, and After the Harvest, and distributing it to veterans, seniors, and low-income families.
“We’re just sharing food within the community,” Neely said.
Neely’s story is an example of sustainability and Kansas City’s increasingly interconnected local food system.
Focus on Flatland
Creating local food plans
Late last year, KC Healthy Kids partnered with Cultivate KC, Mid-America Regional Council (MARC), New Growth and numerous community stakeholders to develop a Regional Food System Action Plan.
The action plan calls on partners to “connect local food producers and consumers, expand existing markets and improve local food security.”
Andrea Clark, director of food systems planning for KC Healthy Kids, said community relationships, resources and infrastructure are crucial for local producers and farmers.
“It’s really important that we jointly develop these resources and infrastructure that benefit everyone,” she said.
In 2010, Kansas City was at the forefront of the local food movement when it enacted an urban agriculture ordinance that greatly simplified the process for urban farms to take root throughout the city.
“This ordinance was a good first step,” Clark said, noting areas where the ordinance could be updated to give urban farms more flexibility. “We’d really like to see agricultural businesses supported just like any other small business in Kansas City and a lot of the policy barriers removed.”
This action plan advocates for both consumers and producers.
A few key points:
We call for greater access to land for producers and improved agricultural zoning regulations. Support infrastructure for the middle of the chain through distribution systems like the Kansas City Food Hub and greater access to food preparation and storage. Make careers in the food system accessible and well-paid.
Clark’s colleague, Emma Shankland, is president of the Greater Kansas City Food Policy Coalition. Shankland said Kansas and Missouri both have rich agricultural traditions, and it’s critical to move forward in a way that includes and supports the farmers who work hard to feed their communities.
“We need to be intentional about educating our communities and stakeholders, legislators and others about the rich opportunities that are out there in local agriculture,” Shankland says, “and how we can actually contribute to our communities.”
Star Neely picks blackberries off the bushes and points out that the ones in her garden taste much better than the ones on the shelf. (Cami Coons | Flatland)
Education has been a pillar of Neely’s business for many years.
Before starting the farm, the Neelys taught food growing to kindergarten through high school students at African Centered College Preparatory Academy and other area schools.
They still do a lot of teaching, but now they do it from their own farm.
“We have to meet people where they are and give them the knowledge they need,” Neely said.
At Global One, we not only teach how to grow, but also the importance and value of fresh, healthy food.
She spoke proudly of neighbors who, thanks to her influence, are now growing food in their yards instead of just grass.
Neely is a member of the Kansas City Black Urban Growers (KCBUGs), a group that is also passionate about agriculture and fresh food education.
Dina Newman, founder and CEO of KC BUGs, said the organization focuses on people who are working and facing challenges.
“We’re looking at people who are growing food, whether that’s people growing food in pots on their porch to people growing food on acres and acres of land,” Newman said.
She began working in food systems in 2011, helping the Ivanhoe Neighborhood Council set up a small growing area on one of the vacant lots owned by the neighborhood residents.
“Everybody does it now, but it was cutting edge at the time,” Newman said.
That little patch transformed into other urban growing areas, the Ivanhoe Farmers Market (still thriving today), and eventually the KC BUG.
“In 2011, there were very few black people in the industry,” Newman said. “We all came together and started empathizing with each other to make this change.”
Source: Kansas City Collaborative Food Shed Initiative: Evaluation Report | KC Healthy Kids
Now a registered nonprofit, KC BUGs supports Black farmers through microgrants, training, and farmer-to-farmer communities.
According to U.S. Department of Agriculture census data, the number of producers of color nationwide declined from 2017 to 2022. The population of Black producers declined by more than 8% over the same period, making farm demographics nearly 95% white.
That lack of diversity persists in Kansas City’s local food system as well.
The assessment report that formed the basis of the local food systems action plan found that many food system organizations lack representation of key BIPOC groups.
Equity and better representation of BIPOC producers and consumers in the food system were identified as key values throughout the Food Systems Action Plan.
“I want to see an equitable food system,” Newman said of her hopes for Kansas City in the coming years. “I want to see more black and brown people at the table.”
Neely spent the first part of her life working in construction, where the hours were long and she felt unappreciated. She saw older people come back into retirement time and time again because they had nothing to fall back on.
Star and Anthony Neely grow fresh food and distribute it for free to the community. (Cami Koons | Flatland)
“So we decided to do something in our community and show people that we have the talent,” Neely said. “We’re smart. We can do it. We just have to believe in ourselves and see it happen.”
“I’m looking at this place, but I’m not there yet because I don’t have a salary, but I’m making progress.”
Sustainable on two fronts
Mary Hendrickson is a rural sociologist and associate professor at the University of Missouri who studies food systems and the impacts of consolidation.
For Hendrickson, sustainability has a two-fold meaning in the food system.
By one definition, it’s about the longevity of farmers and farm workers. A sustainable system allows them to contribute to their communities and earn an adequate living, while ensuring everyone has access to good, healthy food.
“It comes down to every community having the capacity to make good food available to all of their residents,” Hendrickson said.
Another definition of sustainability has to do with ecology and the relationship between food production and soil loss, water quality and carbon emissions.
“All of this is holistic,” Hendrickson says, “and it’s not going to change overnight. It’s about creating space, creating alternatives, and thinking critically about how we’ve organized food.”
But small producers with localized systems don’t always get the same level of support as commercial farmers, and they face higher risks when trying new systems.
“That being said, there are some pretty significant investments being made that pale in comparison to crop insurance subsidies, but there are investments being made in local food markets,” Hendrickson said.
But doesn’t industrial agriculture contribute to the world’s food supply?
Hendrickson disagrees.
“Why would anyone starve if we’re producing so many more calories than a healthy person needs to consume in a day?” Hendrickson asked.
By law, the United States produces nearly 4,000 calories per person per day, but 13.5% of people nationwide are food insecure, and the rate is increasing locally.
“These industrial scales are not going to feed the world,” Hendrickson said. “This is a story to make some people feel good, but it’s not the real story.”
It’s a distribution problem: if the food produced is not available, affordable or nutritious, it won’t reach the people who need it.
“The biggest companies continue to get bigger and the problem is they’re driven solely by a focus on profits,” Hendrickson said.
There is no single magic solution to this problem.
It will require changing agricultural practices, supporting urban agriculture, and restructuring local, regional and global food systems.
“It’s not just about lower prices for consumers,” Hendrickson said. “It’s about farm livelihoods, worker livelihoods, resilient businesses, and what we can do to make sure everyone has food to eat.”
Take Action
Throughout our “Harvest Change” series, Flatland has been asking sources what consumers need to do, and the answers have been varied.
Advice ranges from voting with your dollar and buying local to asking questions about your food, talking to farmers, calling elected officials and planting gardens.
Matt Riggs, solid waste management outreach coordinator for MARC and Kansas City Food Wise, encourages people to follow the “ABCs of food waste reduction” and think about food from how it’s purchased, stored, prepared, shared and ultimately discarded.
“I really encourage people to develop an informed view of the food system and the foods that they’re eating,” Hendrickson said, “so that we can potentially increase our ability to act together and address issues throughout the food system.”
Cody Boston is a multimedia producer for Kansas City PBS and producer of “Flatland in Focus.” Cami Coons covers rural issues for Kansas City PBS in collaboration with Report for America. The work of Report for America corps members is made possible through the generous support of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Julie Fryatt and Nicole Dolan contributed to this reporting.
