agjournalonline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from agjournalonline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A series of workshops hosted by Kansas State University this spring in Wichita, Olathe and Parsons delved deeper into the up and coming agricultural sector of direct-to-consumer meat marketing, with
How local foods blossomed during COVID-19
Sara Wyant looks at how one Facebook group, Shop Kansas Farms, helped create a regional food system in that state. 5:30 am, Apr. 25, 2021 ×
As Americans were first being told to practice social distancing and shelter in place last year, many farmers were trying to figure out how to reach consumers who used to come to their farms and buy direct. Many worried that they would lose income for months on end.
However, others learned new ways to connect with consumers online or through remote pickup. By pivoting to new marketing channels, some small farmers reported that 2020 was their best year yet.
Last year, after years of fundraising, Haven High School s greenhouse became a reality. Before the pandemic hit, students in the agriculture program grew lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers and gave the vegetables to the school s cafeteria, where they were placed in the salad bar.
This model, along with lettuce from indoor school tower gardens, is taking place at schools throughout the state - from Hutchinson to Wellington to Medicine Lodge.
Dozens of schools are also buying onions and carrots from Kansas farmers, as well as hamburgers and pork chops from Kansas ranchers. Hundreds of school children throughout the state are eating local meat and vegetables produced at their school or on a farm or ranch nearby.