 KC Healthy Kids, along with partnering organizations Groundwork Northeast Revitalization Group (NRG), Mid-America Regional Council and New Growth, have received funding from the USDA's Regional Food System Partnerships program to connect and strengthen our regional foodshed. The partnering organizations bring together diverse networks from urban, suburban and rural communities. The project area includes: Allen, Douglas, Leavenworth and Wyandotte in Kansas and Cass, Jackson, Lafayette and St. Clair in Missouri. They also bring complimentary expertise in community planning, research, stakeholder engagement, food system justice and community development. Katie Nixon, Food Systems Director with West Central Missouri Community Action Agency and member of the New Growth Team, believes this project "will give us an opportunity to understand our local food system from new perspectives and help guide future work that will help make the region more resilient and food secure." Alyssa Moncure, who coordinates the Northeast Grocers Project for Groundwork NRG, is "especially interested in seeing how we can assist our BIPOC farmers to self-organize and implement their visions for a more integrated and locally-reliant regional food supply chain". The main goal of the project, led by the Greater KC Food Policy Coalition, is to identify actionable strategies to develop a sustainable, systematic connection between food producers and consumers in the regional foodshed by:
For Marlene Nagel, Director of Community Development at MARC, "this project is important to our region in understanding food security needs and how to best leverage existing resources and determine where additional support is necessary." Coordinating Team Andrea Clark, Project Coordinator Policy & Planning Manager, KC Healthy Kids Ben Carpenter (interim), Coordinating Partner Climate Safe Neighborhoods Coordinator, Groundworks NRG Beth Low-Smith, Project Manager Vice President Policy, KC Healthy Kids Director, Greater KC Food Policy Coalition Katie Nixon, Coordinating Partner Food Systems Director, West Central Missouri Community Action Agency & New Growth President, The KC Food Hub Co-Operator, Green Gate Family Farm Marlene Nagel, Coordinating Partner Community Development Director, Mid-America Regional Council Rachael McGinnis-Millsap, Project Coordinator Farm to Institution Director, KC Healthy Kids Advisory Board
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