ANNUAL REPORT 2 0 1 3

Cultivate Kansas City’s vision is a farm in every neighborhood. To achieve that vision, we inspire others to grow food. We encourage cities to permit food cultivation and sale. We celebrate individuals and groups who grow food – and we help them expand their goals. We work to cultivate a culture that recognizes the health, societal, and economic benefits of locally grown food. This is the change we are growing: the recognition by an entire community that locally grown food is good for everyone. Thank you for your interest in our 2013 Annual Report. It tells the story of how we are growing the change!

Gwen WurstPresident of the Board

Table of Contents

Gibbs Road Farm3-4Juniper Gardens Training Farm

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Urban Farmer Development7-8

Letter from the President of the Board of Directors

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Cultivate Kansas City is a catalyst for the production and consumption of locally grown food.

Cultivate Kansas City works to create a metro area in which:

Sustainable, community-engaged farms are scattered throughout the metro, providing an abundance of fresh and healthy food to city residents

Unused spaces are turned into food producing farms and gardens

Residents have opportunities to earn income through farming

Appropriately scaled agriculture is understood and practiced as an integral part of a beautiful, lively, and healthy neighborhood.

TOGETHER

Board of Directors:David André, Attorney & Counselor at LawJennifer Cawley, VP Account Director, BarkleyRay Domino, Controller reStart, Inc.Allison Harding, Community Volunteer, RJ Kool CompanyShannon Hoffmann, Owner, GreenAcres MarketRobin Maiale, Community Volunteer, CSA Member Donnie Morehouse, Organizing Director, Missouri Jobs with JusticeDon Nelson, Community Volunteer, Compliance Officer

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Cary Rivard, Fruit & Vegetable Extension Specialist Kansas State University Horticulture Research & Extension CenterJoann Schwarberg, Owner, Joann Schwarberg LandscapingDavid Smith, Chief of Staff, Kansas City, KS Public SchoolsJake Wagner, Associate Professor, UMKC, Department of Architecture, Urban Planning & DesignGwen Wurst, Community Volunteer, CSA MemberTina Wurth, Extension Educator, Lincoln University

GROWING CHANGE

WE ARE

Photo by Ami Freeberg

VOLUNTEERS

Gibbs Road Farm is a two acre certified-organic vegetable farm serving as a regional model for training and demonstration. The farm offers research and experimentation both independently and in cooperation with extension services. All aspects of the farm’s production plan, business management, budget and organic certification procedures are resources for the community.As with any market farm, Gibbs Road Farm needs to meet budget goals in order to survive, thus being a model for others interested in taking on the venture. The vegetable production of the farm is financially self-sustaining.

We sold approximately 100,000 transplants throughout Kansas City in 2013 at our annual transplant sale, the Brookside Farmer’s Market, wholesale to other market farms, and donated to non-profits and school gardens. As a program of Cultivate Kansas City, Gibbs Road Farm grows farmers and community. The seeds we sew are more than vegetables and crops. They are the seeds of the local food revolution and they are changing the way individuals engage with food in their own lives.

In 2013, the farm took 20 percent of the field out of production to begin a two-year fallow program,

allowing the soil to rest and rebuild its nutrients. The program will rotate throughout the field over the years.

Gibbs Road farm hosted nearly 450 volunteers in 2013 through initatives like Work the Farm on second and fourth Satrdays and employee volunteer days. Meaningful volunteer engagement enhances our organizational capacity and furthers our efforts to create a healthy local food

GIBBS ROAD FARM

Volunteerism

CSA Potluck

system. Gibbs Road Farm is often an introductory volunteer experiene for people tohave a first-hand on a farm. Many volunteers come back with their friends, faimly, or co-workers to take ownership over a particular project.

We actively participate in the Growing Growers program and train apprentices at Gibbs Road Farm annually. After many months of seeding, planting, weeding, laying drip irrigation, harvesting and marketing our vegetables, crew members leave the farm with a real-life understanding of how to farm. Some continue to farm, others find another role, but they always find their voice within the local food movement.

From the labor of two volunteers, Larry Davis and Jim Lammert, this new washstand now stands strong and ready to host not only both vegetable washing community gatherings.

Volunteers come to Gibbs Road Farm in numerous ways. From school groups, workplace volunteers, people seeking community service hours, familes, and community members, everyone gets their hands dirty and impacts the farm n a meaningful and important way. Despite leaving tired, sweaty, and dirty, volunteers are always thanking the farm manager and are eager to come back! Pictured below, volunteers from Cerner Corporation weeded peppers and eggplant, reclaimed an herb bed, dead-headed zinnias, sorted onions and washed 800 pounds of potatoes.

Photos by Ami Freeberg

Photo by Ami Freeberg

3 4continued >Photo by Ami Freeberg

Volunteerism reached an all-time high in 2013. 1,428 people volunteered11,961 hours. From planting to creative problem-solving, they truly impacted our food system.

In 2013, we grew 28,000 pounds of vegetables, herbs and fruit, including some 50 annual crops for a total of $130,000 in produce sales.

This produce feeds a year-round 40-member Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, is sold at market and supplies local restaurants.

Urban Farmer Development offers specific services to farmers that help improve their farm’s production and finances. Each year this program educates at least 500-650 people about the production, distribution, and consumption of local food. It helps start 3-5 new urban farms and 1-3 new food projects while supporting neighborhood-based food access planning. This program is designed to be flexible and responsive to the emerging needs and opportunities of the Kansas City food system. The bi-annual Urban Grown Farm & Gardens Tour has become an asset to both growers and the public.

In 2013 the Urban Grown Farms & Gardens Tour was the largest urban agriculture tour in the country with 60 farms and gardens. A planning committee of nearly 40 volunteers worked for a year to plan the tour and week of Urban Grow events, featuring a kick off, workshops, collaborative events and a keynote address by renowned author and New York Times columnist, Mark Bittman. The tour featured market farms, community gardens, charitable gardens, school gardens and home gardens showcasing the diversity of how good food is grown in Kansas City. Visitors traveled from Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio and Oklahoma to experience the Urban Grown Tour and events. The Tour and events brought in $84,976.30: $27,034 in corportate sponsorships,$19,600 in foundation grants, $500 in individual donations and $37,841.93 in tickets sales and events income.

Total expenses were $68,581.68 Net income was $16,394.62.

Research and Innovation is a focus of this program to assist urban farmers looking at the natural resources and the changing climate in Kansas City. In 2013 three farmers-in-training in focused on the abundance of land with tree cover as growing sites and they looked into mushroom production where shade is a necessity. Bhutanese growers, who bring to the United States a love of edible fiddlehead ferns, planted ferns in the woods abutting their community gardens. Gerardo Martinez inspired a research project funded by a U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Sustainable

In 2013, the Get Growing KC Map was made in partnership with VML. During their VML Foundation Day, VMLers set up their computers under the washstand and participated in a hackathon. The result was a resource for Kansas City to connect with urban farmers, community gardens, educational gardens and farmers markets. Growers can upload photos, tell people where to find produce, or let the community know if garden plots are available.

Bulk Potato Orders

Agricultural Research and Education grant to grow nopales, an edible cactus, for their pads and fruit.

We measure our progress by tracking acres of land in agricultural production, viability of local food outlets, the success of the community food projects we have assisted, and the economic viability of the farmers we work with. We track the participation in the local food movement by other sectors, such as health care providers, planning and design communities, businesses and corporations, and other non-profit organizations. We track staff time in providing one-on-one technical assistance, workshops, presentations, and other community outreach activities. We track participation using numbers of attendees and technical assistance recipients. We evaluate grower and food project success through conversationand site visits.

2013 Tour Highlights • 2,000 tour goers made over 7,225 unique visits to 60 urban farms and gardens during the Tour, compared with about 6,875 visits in 2011.

• 350 attendees got inspired at “Plant the Seed”, the Urban Grown Kick Off at the Downtown Library • 132 people participated in four Urban Grown workshops to learn technical skills for growing, raising, and eating healthy, local food.

• 14 local restaurants donated 10% of their proceeds to Cultivate Kansas City, for a total of $1,402.17.

• 750 attendees attend a lecture by Mark Bittman.

Every year Cultivate Kansas City puts together a combined order for Kansas City area growers with Potato Garden so area farmers can get certified organic and certified natural potatoes at a bulk rate. Naturally Grown seed potatoes are non-GMO and grown without the use of chemicals, pesticides, fungicides, or synthetic fertilizers using organic methods and philosophies. 40 area farmers ordered nearly 6,300 pounds of seed potatoes.

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URBAN FARMER DEVELOPMENT

H20 to Grow Coalitioncontinued >

The H2O to Grow Coalition partnered with the Wyan- dotte County Health De- partment and the Public Works Department to help food growers in WyCo gain access to water. Grants for water connection were rec- ommended for seven com- munity gardens and urban farms in WyCo. In 2014, look for each of those sites to be producing more fruits and vegetables, managing their soils

Kansas City’s Urban Food Map

to prevent storm water run-off, and demonstrating good stewardship of irrigation water. This effort has inspired a similar initiative in Kansas City, Mo., where Water Services in 2014 will partner with city staff, elected officials and community organiza- tions to set up a fund to support water access and good water management strategies on farms and gardens.

Record Breaking SalesJuniper Gardens farmers found their agricultural stride this year. One graduate farmer sold more than $1,000 at a Saturday farmers market, a big milestone for any farmer! Other farmers broke their own records for sales, even with delays in harvesting due to the weather We’re so proud of the farmers, so grateful for the work we do with Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas, and so appreciative of the customers who value good quality, organic produce grown by local farmers!

Juniper Gardens Training Farm is an ongoing collaboration with Catholic Charities of NE Kansas and the Kansas City, KS Housing Authority to help low-income people and refugees start and run urban farm businesses. The four-year program provides land, farming infrastructure, development support, and intensive production and business management education to participants and, post-graduation, assists them in finding land and transitioning to full farm independence. The nine-acre training farm is located at the Juniper Gardens housing complex just minutes from downtown Kansas City, KS and Kansas City, MO in one of Kansas City’s most challenged neighborhoods.

Growing farmers does not inherently grow the demand for fresh, nutritious, and local food. Offering unique and diverse produce is one approach being used by our farmers to gain consumer attention. Their unique cultures provide an opportunity to introduce new vegetables that expand American pallets or offer familiarity for immigrants and refugees. Two farmers and several graduates planted strawberries as part of a pilot project aiming to improve strawberry yields in the Great Plains. An Associate Professor at Kansas State University has been working with the farmers over last few months to provide a more stable income stream for producers and encourage new growers to enter the industry. Several graduate farmers planted fruit trees- apple, peach, pear, and cherry- as well as blackberries, raspberries,

and strawberries. A few farmers also planted asparagus in 2013.

At an end-of-season meeting, a mushroom enthusiast presented about the process of growing mushrooms on logs and what kinds of mushrooms have an established market for demand in Kansas City. In response to their interest, a tour of two mushroom farms in Lawrence, Kansas was arranged. Several farmers are now working on plans to start their own mushroom farms.

First year farmers, Tula and Menuka, offered a Bhutanese-Nepali cooking class with luffa and narcissis gourd. They used these vegetables along with pumpkin to demonstrate how to cook a delicious traditional Bhutanese meal. People sampled the dishes and received recipes. These vegetables will be sold by the farmers in 2014.

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Somali Batu Community Garden

JUNIPER GARDENS TRAINING FARM

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110,000 pounds of organic vegetables2 farmers bought their own land

5 farmers are buying their own land12 markets sold local produce

62 CSA members $160,000 in collective sales

CLIENTS SERVED DIRECTLY PEOPLE CLIENTS SERVED INDIRECTLY PEOPLE TOTAL

Farmers in training at Juniper Gardens 17 Family members of farmers 60 77

Graduate farmers 8 Family members of graduates 36 44

Total # Farmers 25 Total family members of farmers 113 138

Juniper community gardeners 32 Family members of gardeners 144 176

Bhutanese community gardeners 34 Family members of gardeners 0 34

Total # Community Gardeners 66 Total family members of gardeners 144 210

Healthy Food Team 2 Total family members 4 6

Total # of Eaters: SNAP & SFMNP users at KCK markets 987 Estimated totalof SNAP family members 1974 2961

TOTAL DIRECT RECIPIENTS 1080 TOTAL FAMILY MEMBERS 2235 3315

Cultivate Kansas City received a $3,000 grant through the RSF Seed Fund to establish the Somali Bantu Community Garden. The Somali Bantu live in northeastern Kansas City where one grocery store serves a six-mile radius and one-third of the families earn less than $10,000 annually. The main occupation for Bantu people is farming, so urban farming is an ideal way for them to assimilate here while increasing their access to fresh, healthy food. A one-acre plot of land was donated by the Somali Bantu Foundation of Kansas, an organization dedicated to the resettlement and integration of Somali Bantu refugees. The land was not ideal for farming with heavy slopes, weeds, and construction debris. Cultivate Kansas City and Somali Bantu Foundation volunteers cleared the land, formed terraces, composted the soil, and planted cover crops. As a result, a little over a half-acre is now ready for planting.

The first annual Midwest Refugee Farmer’s Conference was organized and attended by more than 60 refugee growers from the four-state region in April. The two-day conference included field trips to the Bhutanese Community Garden, Juniper Gardens Training Farm, and a graduate farmer site. Attendess said “I loved the tours, especially of the graduate farmers site becuase it gave us a concrete example of our goals for the future.

Three hundred guests joined us for our second annual Dig In, KC!, a dinner with farmers and friends. The evening celebrated food, farms and community through a delicious, family style meal in the historic City Market.

The event: • Raised $35,000 for Cultivate KC • Engaged 20 youth from the Broadmoor Bistro through valuable hands-on experience.• Featured 10 farmers who sold produce, earned meaningful income, and met new customers.• Served 550 pounds of fresh, local produce purchased from 10 urban farms to dinner attendees. • Introduced 100 new volunteers to Cultivate KC. • Introduced 16 new sponsors to Cultivate KC.

Dig In, KC!

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Photos by Crissy Dastrup | Dastrup Creative Group

Kansas City Community

Contact Information4223 Gibbs Road Kansas City, KS 66106

Website: www.cultivatekc.orgPhone: 913.831.2444E-mail: info@cultivatekc.orgFacebook: Cultivate Kansas CityTwitter: @CultivateKC