It’s one of the ironies of our food system that here in Kansas, one of the largest agriculture states in the union, we don’t have a whole lot of local food. It doesn’t have to be that way. What’s more, a turnaround in that situation is a good economic development plan.
That was the message that […]

To introduce people in the Lawrence area to local meats — including many that are not from cattle — the Downtown Lawrence Farmers Market had its third annual “Local Meat: It’s What’s for Dinner” promotion and demonstration this past weekend.

Could native foods be the next big thing in eating? Some people, Gary Nabhan in particular, are working to push things in that direction.

Around the world there’s growing talk about food crisis as grain prices soar and supplies plummet. They’re talking food riots. And the American Bakers Association marched on Washington.
Meanwhile, in the breadbasket of the nation (a.k.a. Kansas), the price of bread rose yesterday in its best-known bakery, WheatFields. Nobody rioted.

“Today’s the day,” Thom Leonard announced when […]

Members of the Kansas Legislature have joined the esteemed lawmakers or regulators in Pennsylvania, Indiana and Ohio who want to spare their citizens the challenge of too much information. Specifically, they want to keep consumers ignorant of whether the milk they’re drinking comes from cows not dosed with recombinant bovine growth hormone, rBGH, which is […]

In her two years in business, Hilary Brown has gotten more publicity for her Local Burger restaurant in Lawrence, Kansas, than your average restaurateur can hope to get in twenty. But, then, Brown isn’t your average restaurateur, and Local Burger isn’t your average restaurant.
Brown is the 38-year-old dynamo behind the restaurant that serves healthy fast […]

I thought a lot about local food last night as I made the 28-mile (roundtrip) journey to get the turkey I’ll roast for my family’s Christmas dinner. Does it make a lot of sense, I wondered, for one person (me) to use over a gallon of gas to pick up one turkey?
I have to conclude […]

A frustrated Dan Nagengast, executive director of the Kansas Rural Center, said after a recent forum on pharmaceutical crops that opponents needed to take the fight somewhere else.
Some 35 to 40 people attended the forum in Topeka on Nov. 14, which provided a pile of handouts, but it got little press and essentially no public […]

Kei, a commenter on my blog, recently asked about what kind of produce is available these days in Kansas. A San Franciscan, she was surprised by the dearth of produce she found recently in New York compared with her home.
Although I gave her a brief answer, I thought I’d check it out in a trip […]

John and Yvonne Bauman and their six children raise pastured chickens for eggs and meat plus other livestock on a small farm in Garnet, Kansas.

This multigenerational family farm, in business since 1866 (here’s the old part of the home[]http://www.flickr.com/photos/foodperson/1506163547/in/set-72157602305466561/], raises pastured chickens [http://www.flickr.com/photos/foodperson/1507022506/in/set-72157602305466561/]and turkeys (heritage [http://www.flickr.com/photos/foodperson/1506162945/in/set-72157602305466561/] and white[http://www.flickr.com/photos/foodperson/1506164151/in/set-72157602305466561/]…. [http://www.flickr.com/photos/foodperson/1506163279/in/set-72157602305466561/] Pendleton’s Country Market…. Not only do they operate a decent-sized diversified farm, growing everything from commodity crops (corn, wheat) to asparagus to bedding plants to cut flower, but they also are ceaseless promoters of local agriculture, including their own farm, of course, and active in 4-H…. [http://www.flickr.com/photos/foodperson/1506166281/in/set-72157602305466561/] Karen was in the “villa,” butterfly net in hand, to catch monarchs passing through weeks beyond their usual migration and pointing out the freshly deposited butterfly eggs and swallowtails’ defense mechanism.[ http://www.flickr.com/photos/foodperson/1507025320/in/set-72157602305466561/] Visitors also could buy bedding plants, pumpkins [http://www.flickr.com/photos/foodperson/1506166013/in/set-72157602305466561/ ] and assorted other items…. To top off the day, I went to a neighbor’s birthday party, which was catered by Local Burger (owned by another neighbor; I live a cool neighborhood), and had an elk burger (among the selection of local burgers offered) with meat supplied by a farm tour rancher, Rocky Hills Elk Ranch (no website; email credmonds /at/ yahoo), and some of those Wakarusa Valley Farms salad greens.