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Position Description
Farmer- Splitlog Farm and Blvd Loft Project 10 hrs per week April 1 - October 31 (there is flexibility on these dates) $22 per hour Contract Farmer Position The position will assist the Local Food Program Manager/Farm Manager with all aspects of organic urban farming to help the community increase local food education and access. The position requires some food production experience, organizational skills, the ability to think strategically, and to establish and maintain effective working relationships with volunteers, interns, community partners and other KC Healthy Kids staff. Duties and Responsibilities:
Job Relationships: The Contract Farmer will interact with farm share members, volunteers, interns, partners and KC Healthy Kids staff. Contact: tflowers@kchealthykids.org  Eat Local & Organic Expo Johnson County Community College Saturday April 1 , 2023, 8 a.m - 2 p.m. Free Admission, Free Parking Hosted by KC Healthy Kids Access the gymnasium from North Campus Drive off of College Boulevard. The Eat Local & Organic Expo brings together area farmers and midwest eaters KC Food Circle™ kicks off farmers market season with the return of the Eat Local & Organic Expo Saturday, April 1 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Johnson County Community College. This family-friendly event is free and open to the public. The Expo is a great place to get to know farmers and find out how you can be more connected to your food and the people who grow it. At the Expo, shoppers can buy from some of the best local, organic, free-range farmers, ranchers, and small-batch artisans in the area. On Saturday, April 1 at Johnson County Community College, shoppers can…
The Eat Local & Organic Expo began in 1999 as part of a food system conference sponsored by KC Food Circle and Sierra Club. KC Food Circle is a program of KC Healthy Kids that connects local farmers with wholesale buyers, chefs and artisans who are vital to our region’s local food system. The Expo is sponsored by J.R. Albert Foundation, Inc., Alphagraphics, Children’s Mercy, Michele and Jim Stowers, AF Group, Central Bank of Kansas City anbd Lamar Advertising Company. About KC Food Circle Since 1988, KC Food Circle™ has connected our region’s eaters and farmers to grow a thriving local food community. In 2019, KC Healthy Kids adopted the volunteer-led effort and continues to maintain the farmer directory, to uphold the integrity of KC Food Circle™ pledges, and to help farmers increase sales by leveraging our partnerships with area restaurants, schools and other institutions. About KC Healthy Kids KC Healthy Kids connects communities to close health gaps. The nonprofit invests in community education, local and regional advocacy and direct support. Their work addresses systemic obstacles through solutions-based focus areas of youth advocacy, food policy, mental health, local food and active communities for kids and their families. Kids and their communities need a strong local food system. That’s why KC Healthy Kids helps farmers grow thriving businesses and teaches kids & families the value of growing their own food and purchasing locally-grown food. You don't have to write a big check to make a big difference for Kansas City's communities. Here are some little things you can do to help connect communities to close health gaps.
With your help, our solution-based work related to local food, food policy, mental health, youth advocates and active communities has impacted the lives of thousands of kids in the Kansas City metro area. Here are some stories of our impact. 1. Make a monthly gift. Monthly donations in any amount add up to make a big difference for kids and their communities. Set it up 2. Give when you shop with Amazon. If you shop with Amazon, you can help KC Healthy Kids' fundraising efforts! It just takes a simple switch to AmazonSmile. Amazon tracks purchases and automatically sends KC Healthy Kids a check based on qualified transactions. On your mobile phone, open the Amazon Shopping App, navigate to the main menu and select Amazon Smile. Please select KC Healthy Kids, Kansas City, Kansas and then follow the on-screen instructions to turn ON AmazonSmile in the mobile app. Follow these steps to set it up on your web browser.
3. Get your friends involved with a Facebook fundraiser You can use Facebook to raise money for KC Healthy Kids. When you make a post, just click the three dots in the "Add to your post" box to find "Raise Money." Type KC Healthy Kids into the search box and Facebook will walk you through the rest. You don't have to do another thing! Facebook will collect donations and send us a check. We WOULD love to know of your kind effort to raise money and spread the word about KC Healthy Kids, if you're so inclined. 4. Donate Your Birthday Another great way to show your Facebook friends and family that KC Healthy Kids matters to you is to ask for donations in celebration of your birthday (or any special day). Go to Facebook Fundraisers and select KC Healthy Kids. Follow the prompts to publish and share the fundraiser.  Did you know that expressing gratitude (even better — writing it down) is scientifically proven to make us happier? It can also improve our physical health, reduce stress and anxiety, and help us sleep better! So you can bet those of us at KC Healthy Kids are feeling pretty good right now as we show gratitude for the people and organizations who help us connect communities to close health gaps. This Giving Tuesday, as in years past, we want to take the opportunity to say THANK YOU for all you have given to us and to your communities this year. Special thanks go to our board of directors for supporting KC Healthy Kids as volunteers and donors (denoted with an asterisk).
 Did you know in Wyandotte County, one in three children aren’t getting enough to eat? Across the Kansas City metro area, the numbers are one in five — not much better. Even when their families can afford food, many children live in neighborhoods with too few grocery stores and too many fast food chains.
To combat hunger and provide fresh food for families with very young children, KC Healthy Kids connects farmers and early education centers to make sure children have healthy food at home. Since 2020, more than 200 families at early care centers have received free weekly farm boxes filled with products purchased from more than 30 local farmers. The program runs for 8-12 weeks during the growing season each year, and not only are the bountiful boxes full of healthy, delicious foods, they are also delivered to their early care centers, so busy parents didn’t have to make another stop on the way home. At the height of the pandemic, farmers’ contracts with schools and restaurants were canceled, but the produce was still growing in their fields. By signing up for farm shares, families helped the farmers receive income and prevent food waste. A majority of the food was purchased through the Kansas City Food Hub, which also assembled and delivered the farm boxes, and some was grown at Splitlog Farm and Orchard. Funding for free farm boxes for early care centers was provided by Frederick and Louise Hartwig Family Fund, The Mader Foundation, PNC Bank, Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas CARES ACT and by individual donors. Denise (not her real name) is a Wyandotte County mom who signed up for our free farm box program. Through access to better food and some education, she and her family improved their health. She lost 50 pounds and has seen her son’s challenging behavior improve. She now sees the need for policy and advocacy in their local community to bring an end to the limited offerings they have for groceries. Here's her story: Changing things for me was also about changing the journey for my kids and teaching them. When we got our first farm box from KC Healthy Kids, my kids didn’t know what things were. I had to tell them that these were vegetables. When we got more boxes, the kids would be excited. We opened them together, then Googled them together. We learned this is a beet; this is a zucchini. The kids helped make hard boiled eggs and season the food. It was a whole event. As a government employee, I’m required to live in our county — developers aren’t keeping the people living here in mind. We only have Walmart as a convenient grocery store and a lot of fast food. To get anything else you have to drive far from here. My neighbors and I talk all the time about how we need a better grocery store. All my neighbors are affected by it. My family feels so much better now. We didn’t know what we were missing. For Meighan Piefer, director at two participating centers, the program was an eye-opener. “Honestly I had no idea how many of my "middle income" families needed food,” Meighan said. “I was surprised how fast the boxes were grabbed up and taken. We asked families to call and reserve a box if they were arriving after 5pm. We put the boxes out at 3:50 and they were gone by 5.” By the numbers
Of Note Families at one center wanted to express their thanks. Here are some excerpts from their notes: “I just wanted to say "thank you" for coordinating the fresh food deliveries. We had a baby this fall, and it came at the perfect time, where it was very difficult to go to grocery stores and pick out any sort of fresh food during this pandemic. I felt better about what I was putting in my body while I was breastfeeding, and my 4-year-old also has more knowledge now of certain veggies like turnips and squash.” “Our family has been extremely grateful to be apart of this program. The veggies and fruit were always fresh and very delicious and helped out a lot when we were already out and needing food. I’ve also, been able to learn about new vegetables that were absolutely delicious!” “The veggies were a life saver, especially when we ended up getting Covid and couldn’t get to the store for anything fresh. We would go through the eggs with the first few days because my boys loved them so much!!! The best boxes also had kale. My boys loved the kale baked and I could have used more kale! The lettuce was awesome because it lasted sooo long! We truly cannot thank you enough for this program. It helped my family so much!” Photo: The produce in this photo is what one family received in a free farm box earlier this month. The Merc Coop in KCK donated bags for delivery. Donations in any amount help us also provide meat, cheese, eggs and honey for families who struggle to make ends meet. Want to be a part of KC Healthy Kids' Local Food solution? Donate today  The statewide network for Kansas food and farm councils has a new name. Kansas Alliance for Wellness is now Kansas Food Action Network. The name was chosen by council members and the network’s steering committee through conversations and reviews that took place over eight months. This change more accurately reflects the councils’ new focus on policy and systems work to improve the health of Kansas communities. Most recently, the network lobbied the Kansas legislature to end the Kansas state sales tax on groceries and celebrated the success of KC Healthy Kids’ work since 2014 to end the tax. What isn’t changing is the commitment of the people who make up the councils. “The people who make up Kansas’ food and farm councils are creative; they are resilient, pragmatic, boots-on-the-ground do-ers who are dedicated to making their food system work for everyone in their community.,” Miranda says. “They have to be! Most councils are entirely composed of volunteers, and rarely do they receive the thanks or recognition they deserve.” With the name change comes a new logo design conveying the interconnectedness of the food system and the ripple effect of the councils’ efforts. The American Heart Association coordinated the Kansas Alliance for Wellness since its inception in 2013 until 2019 when it passed the torch to KC Healthy Kids and Miranda Miller-Klugesherz became director of the program. To stay up-to-date with the Kansas Food Action Network, sign up for our monthly newsletter.   Kansans will soon be paying a lower sales tax rate at the grocery store after Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly signed a tax cut into law that was approved by state lawmakers. The measure cuts the 6.5% state sales tax on groceries to 4% on Jan. 1, 2023. After that, scheduled reductions would take it to 2% in 2024 and zero by Jan. 1, 2025.
The proposal does not affect local sales taxes on groceries. Those are in addition to the state’s 6.5% tax. It is one of only seven states in the nation that fully taxes groceries, and at 6.5 percent, it’s the second-highest rate in the country. KC Healthy Kids has been sounding the alarm about this harmful tax since 2014, when we rallied our partners and began working with the Kansas Legislature on both sides of the aisle to eliminate the state sales tax on groceries. “Over the last seven years, we’ve worked with grocers, economists, hunger relief agencies, and consumers to educate Kansas decision makers about all the ways the grocery tax hurts Kansans,” Beth Low-Smith, vice president for policy at KC Healthy Kids said. As a result of this work, in October 2014, two members of the Kansas Senate — a Republican and a Democrat — announced they would pursue legislation to eliminate the sales tax on food. Republican Michael O’Donnell and Democrat Oletha Faust-Goudeau, both from Wichita, said their proposal would likely phase out the tax over several years. “As bipartisan support for eliminating the grocery tax has grown, so has the urgency of this issue. It’s time for decision makers in Topeka to do what’s right for the physical and economic health of Kansas and do away with this outdated and harmful tax on groceries,” Beth says. In 2015, KC Healthy Kids’ food policy staff partnered with Wichita State to publish a series of white papers showing the damaging effects of the sales tax: it drives shoppers across state lines, hurts lower-income families more, and hurts rural grocery stores. The elimination of the state food sales tax applies to food purchased at grocery stores, farmers markets and anywhere grocery food items are sold. According to Governor Kelly’s office, a Kansas family of 4 would save an average of $500 dollars on their grocery bill every year. That’s extra money that could go to school supplies, gas, or bills, instead. The plan would not divert resources from other state services or agencies.  After more than twelve years leading policy efforts for KC Healthy Kids and serving as director of the Greater KC Food Policy Coalition, Beth Low-Smith has tendered her resignation to begin the next chapter of her career. She will leave her post in late April.
Since joining KC Healthy Kids in 2010, Beth has assembled a talented team, forged strong partnerships and led innovative policy initiatives. She is committed to working closely with partners and staff to ensure a smooth transition and secure this legacy. “We are grateful for Beth and the contributions she has made to KC Healthy Kids, from her incredible depth of expertise in food policy and community engagement to her commitment to supporting racial equity," Danielle Robbins-Gregory, president/CEO said. Following are some highlights from Beth’s leadership we’re especially proud of:
We hope our funders, partners and stakeholders will join us in wishing Beth the very best in her new endeavors.  KC Food Circle™ kicks off farmers market season with the return of the Eat Local and Organic Expo Saturday, April 9 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Johnson County Community College. Shop, eat and connect with people who care about your food at the 2022 Eat Local and Organic Expo, hosted by KC Healthy Kids in partnership with Brookside Farmers Market. Are you new to Kansas City’s thriving local food scene? The expo is a great place to get to know farmers and find out how you can be more connected to your food and the people who grow it. FREE ADMISSION - FREE PARKING At the expo, Midwest eaters can shop from some of the best local, organic, free-range farmers, ranchers and small-batch artisans in the area. Get More Info On Saturday, April 9 at Johnson County Community College, you can…
Kids and their communities need a strong local food system. That’s why KC Healthy Kids helps farmers grow thriving businesses and teaches kids and families the value of growing their own food and purchasing locally-grown food. The Eat Local and Organic Expo began in 1999 as part of a food system conference sponsored by KC Food Circle™ and Sierra Club. KC Food Circle™ is a program of KC Healthy Kids that connects local farmers with wholesale buyers, chefs and artisans who are vital to our region’s local food system.
 KC Healthy Kids invites farmers to apply for membership to the KC Food Circle™ for 2022. Memberships are open to anyone within a 120 mile radius of Kansas City who is using organic practices (but not necessarily certified) with the intent to sell food to others.
Membership is free for 2022 and benefits include:
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