Foundation Journal

Organizers with Empower Missouri, formerly the Missouri Association of Social Welfare, and Catholic Charities of Central and Northern Missouri will hold a public forum titled "There’s No Plate Like Home: Health, Food &Power." The event will be Monday February 23, 2015 at 6:30 p.m. in Room 100 in the Inman E. Page library at Lincoln University, 712 Lee Drive, Jefferson City, Missouri. Here are details of the event from the organizers: This public forum will examine the connections among health, food, farming, and public policy with an aim to promoting local, sustainably-grown food, healthy food choices and availability, and the public policies surrounding these concerns. We will look at: the programs and projects that promote healthy, locally-grown food, its access, and its producers and growers in communities throughout Missouri.  how public policies and the actions of corporations affect our access to locally-grown, healthy food, and the sustainability of a...

Orchard operation near Waverly, Mo On a recent trip to Columbia to visit my daughter attending the University of Missouri my wife and I took a scenic route through the historic town of Lexington, then went north on highway 65 out of Waverly. The hilly area is home to many fruit orchards, some of which line the roads. Fruit stands and orchard stores are common to the area. North out of Waverly across the Missouri River the landscape changes to flat bottomland containing expansive row crop farms covering thousands of acres. This abundant farmland stretches 65 miles east from Carrollton to Moberly on highway 63. Orchard near Waverly, Mo. From the look of the farm size and large quantities of orchards you would think this provides a satisfactory quality of life for people in the nation's breadbasket, but a story about a food assistance program in the Kansas City Star revealed a different side to this area. The two schools in Carrollton, county seat of Carroll County, ...

December 24, 2004 - Jane's Dad -- Francis Hainey passed away in May 2010 -- talked about some of his life growing up, including his work life, during our visit to the farm where she grew up. His family sold milk in Barnard, Missouri directly to the community -- bottled and delivered the milk. Quart bottle with cream from Jersey cows sold for 8 cents per quart, skim milk sold for 10 cents per gallon, and a pint of cream for 8 cents until 1950. The last milk producer along Highway 6 near St. Joe was overwhelmed by the large producers. Francis talked about other memories including the time when his Dad partnered with Joe Eaton on getting a mule train when he wanted. Lathrop acted as a central market for distribution to supply World War I packs, also used in the south for cotton farming. Francis used mules for transporting mail when a car couldn't traverse the muddy roads. Francis would drive a mail buggy when he was 18 sometimes. Francis' Dad acted as a substi...

From the opening scene of a train traveling through a barren Kansas landscape and notes from a Neko Case song, the film caught my attention. The film used no narration, so film goers had to watch and listen closely to the characters. The film depicted blue-collar workers, immigrant meat packing workers, conservative Christians, farmers, and opponents and supporters of abortion, among others. After the December 11 Liberty Hall (Lawrence, KS) screening of documentary film "What's the Matter with Kansas?" based on Thomas Franks' book of the same name, Donn Teske, President of the Kansas Farmers Union, spoke about his role in the film and the future of farming in Kansas. Teske showed both his "Populist without a Party" and tell-it-like-it-is traits during the discussion. The film followed the book's central theme of politics in Kansas converging towards extreme conservatism despite a distant history of progressive and populist politics. While the film sh...

The Tomato Fair brought out a sizable crowd to Farrand Farms at 5941 Noland Road in Kansas City, Missouri on August 1, 2009. The full parking lot was a testament to the crowd size. The nursery farm is located in the Little Blue River valley between Raytown, Independence, Lee's Summit, and Kansas City. The event was well-organized by the nursery gardens owner as they had a lot of activities focused on the featured vegetable -- the tomato. There was a tomato tasting area, salsa tasting, tomato cooking demonstration, tour of a large demonstration tomato garden, several booths from local groups, and activities for kids. Locally grown produce, was one of the themes that several people talked about during the morning festival. Festival-goers heard Chef Jasper Mirabile, Jr. talk about using locally grown garlic and basil in his Italian recipes used at his south KC restaurant, Jasper's . Ginger Johnson, a master gardener with the new Heartland Harvest Garden at Powell Gardens in Kin...

Saw Food Inc at Leawood theatre this evening -- plenty of open seats. The film wove several threads of the food business -- mass production, diminishing farmer control of production, heavy emphasis on meat production and corn, impact on health of Americans -- to tell an important story that big business does not have the interest of consumers or the environment in mind. This is a must see for those just learning about trends in consumption and food growing. I especially liked hearing a woman "TSK" loudly eight rows back reacting to comments from a woman chicken grower in the film discuss conditions in a chicken tunnel. The film focused on Monsanto's wrath tracking a seed cleaner who assisted farmers recover seeds for the next season's planting. The segment in the film reminded me of a solid article on the same topic that featured small farm businesses in Pilot Grove, Missouri, where my mom's side of the family hails from. See "Monsanto's Harvest of Fear...