I was asked to serve on a social media panel at American Farm Bureau Federation’s Annual Convention recently in Salt Lake City. One question was what the impact of Shop Kansas Farms has been.
I’d like to share my answers with you, and I’d love to hear what you have to add!
There were at least four areas of impact.
1. Tens of thousands of people fell in love with Kansas farmers and ranchers like I have while I was writing about them for Kansas Farm Bureau’s membership magazine, Kansas Living. Since I have spent two decades in international hunger relief, I understood the initial explosive growth was driven by fear. Empty shelves at the grocery store stirred fear in people, wondering where they were going to purchase food for their family. Suddenly, through Shop Kansas Farms (SKF), they discovered the farmer down the road from them had the food they needed. Their fears were settled. I wrote an Op-Ed for Sara Wyant at Agri-Pulse titled, “Kansas Farmers Calm Public Fears.” There is a principle in the Bible that says love casts out fear. I believe people fell in love with the farmers and ranchers who calmed their fears and gave them hope. We now have 164,000 members on our Facebook group plus another 10,000 shoppers a month hit our website looking for farmers. That means we have helped tens of thousands of people truly know their farmer and know their food. Farmers and ranchers have a fan club!
2. Kansas farmers and ranchers prospered. One such farmer had 800 hogs ready to go then at the last minute, the packing house called and canceled the order. Suddenly, he was faced with the dilemma of having to euthanize his herd, but he found a local locker to work with and, by the time the year was over, he had sold those 800 head directly to consumers plus an additional 1,600. He profited that year instead of losing a herd of 800 hogs. I’ve conducted 50 interviews for my book that will be released in April titled, “Harvesting Hope: The Shop Kansas Farms Story.” Every farmer I interviewed said they found new markets and new revenues through Shop Kansas Farms.
3. Real time education happened as farmers and ranchers learned how to talk to consumers and vice versa. For example, a consumer would ask, “I want to buy a cow.” A farmer would come on and say, “Well, umm, you might not want a cow but what you really want is a steer.” Or a farmer would state, “I have a beef going in with a live weight at 1,200 pounds and the hanging weight will be about 900 pounds then the final weight of the meat will be determined by what kind of cuts you tell the butcher to make.” Consumers would scratch their heads and wonder what planet that language came from. The unique thing is that SKF is NOT a focus group; it’s real people with real money wanting real food and real answers.
4. It continues to grow. One thing I’ve learned from farmers is to be a good steward and plan for long-term growth. We added a website with a searchable map and directory so people can find their local farmers easier. We help existing farms as well as new farms find new customers, and have started the Market of Farms, which is a twist on the farmers’ market idea. Farmers markets are usually local vendors and local customers and it’s not just food related. However, our Market of Farms events draw vendors from all over the state as well as consumers from all over the region. Our first one in Lyons had more than 1,400 consumers and more than 40 farmers and ranchers selling their food products. Our next one is in Caldwell on March 8. Furthermore, we have also helped communities start their own Harvest Hubs, first in Rice County and now in Caldwell with the Border Queen Harvest Hub. A Harvest Hub is a community-based approach to create economic opportunities for farms and ranches by establishing a physical system of production, processing and distribution of local food that can be purchased by local, regional and national consumers. We can help you start one in your community, too.
Like any crop a farmer plants, we have tended to Shop Kansas Farms in such a way that it will continue to grow and create even greater impacts. We want to make it easy for consumers to find and purchase food from local farms and ranches, plus we want to help people who grow food find more customers. That’s been our goal from day one: To connect you to the wonderful farm and ranch families of Kansas so you can purchase the food they raise.
You can find a farm near you on our website: www.shopkansasfarms.com
Rick McNary is a leader in bringing people together to build community and reduce hunger in sustainable ways.
