Food Access

Officials at food banks like Kansas City-based Harvesters worry about administrative barriers facing families applying for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. (Austin Wood | Flatland)

Missouri Food Assistance Applicants Hit ‘Bottleneck’

Imagine you have just been evicted, and that any documentation you had regarding income, health care expenses, utility costs, or other relevant paperwork got lost in the shuffle. That is a problem in and of itself. But the lack of information is a bigger barrier when it stands between you and gaining eligibility for the…

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KU Med students prepare ingredients in a culinary medicine class where they learn about nutrition and food as medicine as well as how to cook a selection of dishes. They critique the meals as well as talk about how it can benefit their patients. (Chase Castor | Flatland)

When Going Under the Knife Does Not Mean Surgery

Chef Educator Rachel Ciordas deftly sliced collard greens into a ribbon-like chiffonade as students from the University of Kansas School of Medicine watched with a degree of awe typically reserved for an episode of the Food Network’s “Chopped.” After Ciordas demonstrated how to peel, chop, or grate the raw ingredients, the future physicians donned aprons…

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Carne Diem is one Kansas City-area food establishment that has avoided the spike in egg prices through its use of local suppliers. (Contributed)

Cracking Egg-flation

Whether ordering an omelet, French toast, chicken n’ biscuits, chilaquiles, corned beef hash or eggs Benedict, eggs play a starring role at The Farmhouse. “When you’re a brunch and breakfast place, eggs are everything,” said Vince Paredes, executive chef and co-owner of the award-winning farm-to-table brunch venue in the River Market. “We bake with eggs….

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Runoff enters the Appomattox River, a major tributary of the James River, which flows into southern Chesapeake Bay in Virginia.

Farm to Trouble: Could the Mississippi River Benefit from This Strategy to Improve Water Quality?

A Chesapeake Bay program could be a model for the Mississippi River as it deals with runoff that fouls water and contributes to a dead zone off the Gulf Coast.

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A man stands behind a table with several signs displaying photos and prices of cuts of chicken. In the center, he has a sign that reads "Double Up Protein Bucks Accepted Here!"

Lawrence Farmers’ Market Rolls Out Double Up Program for Protein

The Lawrence Farmers’ Market has launched a grant-funded program that allows SNAP recipients to stretch their dollars to buy more protein products.

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Cows feeding in trough

Harvesting Change | Localizing Our Food System

As part of the Flatland series “Harvesting Change,” Flatland in Focus looks at the people and policies that influence the transition away from industrial agriculture to a more localized food system that protects and regenerates the environment.

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A woman looks at a bundle of drying flowers on a lettuce stalk in a hoop house.

Harvesting Change | Making Local Food Connections in the Heartland  

Meet the people who are making Kansas City’s increasingly interconnected local food system more sustainable on multiple fronts.

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A water tower in Guymon, Oklahoma, which relies on the Ogallala Aquifer for drinking water.

Parched in the Panhandle: Town Frets About Water

How Seaboard Foods rebuilt the Oklahoma panhandle’s economy, which ushered in a new era of groundwater depletion from the Ogallala Aquifer.

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A crowd of people gather in the background of an image, taken down a row of boxes, low to the ground. The boxes are full of yellow and red tomatoes and read "Missouri Grown" and "Fresh Missouri Produce"

Do We Have a Bid? Auctions Sell Produce by the Lot 

Produce auctions in Missouri and Kansas allow wholesale buyers to shop local, offering a key link in the food distribution chain.

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David Friesen, founder and head beekeeper of Bee KC, checks on bees that will be added to the hives at Tom's Town.

Nurturing the Sweet Nectar of Urban Beekeeping

Kansas City businesses seeking locally sourced honey are embracing urban beekeeping. Meet some who seek to shorten the food chain and support the environment.

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