Why join the Kansas City Food Circle?
UPDATE: The Farmer Membership Application page is now AVAILABLE. Once you have read through the pledges please fill out the application. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Rachael McGinnis Millsap, rmmillsap@kchealthykids.org .
Because you should use your energy to farm rather than worrying about who will buy your products.
If you are a farmer growing with the intent to sell food to others, within 120 miles of Kansas City and grow organically (but not necessarily certified) and/or have pasture-raised animals, we would love to have you! For $50 a year, your farm will be included in our print and online Directory of Farmers, your own page on our web site, and an invitation to table at our spring Expo April 4, which attracts around 3000 visitors each year. (Additional tabling fees apply.)
We are also a networking resource for you. Do you have an overabundance of a certain crop and no idea who to call? We probably do. Looking for a recommended processor? We've got that, too. Check out our Farmers Resources page. We can either help you find the solution to your problem, or at least point you in the right direction. Email rmmillsap@kchealthykids.org.
You should feel comfortable with the farmers' pledges, below, as they are the guidelines that help buyers understand how their food is grown.
Here's how we market for you:
Because you should use your energy to farm rather than worrying about who will buy your products.
If you are a farmer growing with the intent to sell food to others, within 120 miles of Kansas City and grow organically (but not necessarily certified) and/or have pasture-raised animals, we would love to have you! For $50 a year, your farm will be included in our print and online Directory of Farmers, your own page on our web site, and an invitation to table at our spring Expo April 4, which attracts around 3000 visitors each year. (Additional tabling fees apply.)
We are also a networking resource for you. Do you have an overabundance of a certain crop and no idea who to call? We probably do. Looking for a recommended processor? We've got that, too. Check out our Farmers Resources page. We can either help you find the solution to your problem, or at least point you in the right direction. Email rmmillsap@kchealthykids.org.
You should feel comfortable with the farmers' pledges, below, as they are the guidelines that help buyers understand how their food is grown.
Here's how we market for you:
- Your farm listing: Our online and print directory helps you tell Eaters about your farm, products and location.
- Restaurants: If your food is served in one of our listed restaurants, we let people know. If a chef is looking for locally sourced ingredients, we make sure you see that need.
- Community supported agriculture programs: If you have a CSA, please describe it in your farm listing. There is no additional fee for CSAs.
- Farmers markets: If you sell in a Farmers Market, we help people find you.
- Farmers-only email list: We have a private email group for our Farmers to talk with each other, share business opportunities, and keep you connected to the food community.
- Advocacy and resources: We keep you updated on legislative issues, grant opportunities, and partnership possibilities.
How to join the food circle
- Read the farmer's pledges below. If you agree with those move on to step 2.
- Fill out the application. Our staff will review it and send you an email outlining next steps.
- Pay your membership fee & complete your profile.
- Get ready to have fun!
Farmer's Pledges
PLANT AND MUSHROOM FARMERS' PLEDGE
Understanding that we must first build and then preserve healthy soil in order to grow healthy fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, and mushrooms, we require all our plant and mushroom farmer-members to sign this pledge. I pledge:
ANIMAL FARMERS' PLEDGE
Understanding that we can only be healthy if the meat, poultry, eggs, and milk we eat come from healthy animals, and believing that farm animals deserve to be allowed to perform behaviors essential to their well-being, we require all our animal farmers to sign this pledge. I pledge:
BEEKEEPERS' PLEDGE
Healthy honey comes from properly managed, healthy hives. We require all our honey-selling beekeeper/farmer members to sign this pledge.
In establishing this pledge, we use the guidelines established in the Certified Naturally Grown Apiary Standards (CNGAS) as a general guide. I pledge:
Understanding that we must first build and then preserve healthy soil in order to grow healthy fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, and mushrooms, we require all our plant and mushroom farmer-members to sign this pledge. I pledge:
- To enhance the health of the land I farm, prevent erosion, and limit losses due to crop diseases through such methods as: the proper application of manure and compost to the soil; planting “green manure” crops and nitrogen-fixing legumes; rotational plantings of complementary crops; drip irrigation; and fallowing
- To never use synthetic nitrogen, phosphorus or potassium fertilizers
- To reduce losses due to insects through such methods as: crop rotation and diversity; encouraging the presence of animals that prey on insects; and insect predator introduction
- To deal with unwanted plants in my fields through such methods as: cover-cropping, mulching, manual removal, tilling, and flame-weeding
- To only use fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides, fungicides (including those used on treated seeds), and other biocides that are on the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Organic Program’s “National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances”
- To never use genetically engineered seeds
- To use potable water when washing produce
- To ensure that any fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, mushrooms and/or value-added products I sell or distribute from other local farms were produced in accordance with this pledge
ANIMAL FARMERS' PLEDGE
Understanding that we can only be healthy if the meat, poultry, eggs, and milk we eat come from healthy animals, and believing that farm animals deserve to be allowed to perform behaviors essential to their well-being, we require all our animal farmers to sign this pledge. I pledge:
- To house the animals on my farm in outdoor pastures and/or pens with breed-appropriate shelter and bedding material available (temporary exceptions for medical treatment and breeding are allowed)
- To provide living conditions that will support the normal behavior and social interactions of each species on my farm so that the animals will thrive and to reduce the incidence of injury, stress, and disease
- To only use antibiotics, parasiticides, and other pharmaceutical drugs therapeutically in response to disease, infestation, or injury
- To never use synthetic growth promotants; this includes, but is not limited to, hormone treatments such as rBGH injections in dairy cows and implants in beef cattle as well as subtherapeutic antibiotics and arsenic in feed
- To never provide commercial feed that contains domestic animal byproducts; this includes, but is not limited to, animal waste, meat, blood, bones, hair, hooves, and feathers (fishmeal approved for use in organic agriculture is permitted)
- To never use conventional herbicides and/or synthetic fertilizers on my pastures and/or hayfields
- To ensure that any meats, dairy products, poultry, eggs, fish, and/or value-added products I sell or distribute from other local farms were produced in accordance with this pledge
- To never knowingly feed my animals genetically engineered feed
BEEKEEPERS' PLEDGE
Healthy honey comes from properly managed, healthy hives. We require all our honey-selling beekeeper/farmer members to sign this pledge.
In establishing this pledge, we use the guidelines established in the Certified Naturally Grown Apiary Standards (CNGAS) as a general guide. I pledge:
- That the primary purpose of my hives is to collect local pollen and produce honey for local markets, not for mobile application for crop pollination off site
- My hives will not be located on conventionally farmed land
- My hives will not be placed in low-lying and wet areas;
- They will receive a minimum number of hours of sunlight exposure
- To avoid using any CNGAS prohibited substances/chemicals to control disease
- To not import and use of any hive, harvest and honey processing component that has been in contact with any prohibited substance or may have been used in a biologically contaminated setting elsewhere
- To ensure that any honey, honeycomb, or beeswax I sell or distribute from other local farms were produced in accordance with this pledge