- by Rick McNary “What in the world is going on?”
I asked myself that question frequently after I launched the Shop Kansas Farms (SKF) Facebook group in April of 2020 during the early days of the pandemic after my wife, Christine, told me the meat counter was empty at the grocery store.
I started SKF to connect my friends with farmers I knew who sold food directly to consumers. By the fifth day when we reached 50,000 members, I knew exactly what was going on in the world. I had created a digital hub for producers, processors and distributors, also known as regional food system.
It has been three and a half years since that launch, and we now have more than 163,000 members in our Facebook group plus a website with a map so you can find a farm near you.
In addition, we began the Market of Farms in Lyons in 2022. It attracted 42 vendors from across the state and drew more than 1,400 shoppers from across the region. Most vendors sold out.
Furthermore, the folks of Lyons bought into an idea I had been working on for a decade about creating their own regional food system. They secured $140,000 in gifts and a USDA grant to start the Harvest Hub of Rice County.
Although SKF seemed to be an overnight success, it was the result of 40 years of preparation.
The FirstTwo Decades of Preparation: Building Community
When the pandemic hit, my son, Caleb, said, “Dad, you need to build a community. That’s what you love to do best.”
He was right; I spent the first two decades of my professional life learning the skills to build a local community.
“But how?” I asked. “We can’t get within six feet of each other; how can I build a community?”
“Commit, then figure it out,” he repeated a leadership lesson I live by.
I learned to build community when, as a young man, I became the pastor of the First Christian Church of Potwin, a beautiful brick building with stunning stained-glass windows. As a rural church, they were more interested in someone drawing people together to do good than theological pontifications.
Since I had carpentry experience and numerous homes were in disrepair, I engaged volunteers in our church in various housing repairs. We even built an impoverished couple a brand-new home.
My son was right: I love to build a community and Shop Kansas Farms is a community.
The SecondTwo Decades: Feeding the Hungry After two decades of ministry, I went on my first international mission trip to the village of Somotillo, Nicaragua.
Upon arriving, we walked the dirt streets between shacks of rusted tin and plastic while dodging oxdrawn wagons and their steamy dollops.
A 5-year-old girl came up out of a shack to beg. Her unkempt hair was red, and her tummy distended — both signs of malnutrition.
She patted my pocket for change. I had no cash on me, so I shook my head no. She pointed at my watch, so I gave it to her. She gave it to her dad who would sell it at the market to feed their family that day.
She reached out to be picked up and giggled as she rubbed her dirty hands over my face. Then she hugged me tightly and whispered, “Feed me. I’m starving.”
I wept. Then I promised God I would spend the rest of my life feeding hungry people.
From that time forward, I have been part of hungerrelief efforts in the jungles of Colombia, the Andes mountains and refugee camps near Somalia. I learned that people grow fearful quickly when there is no food. I also learned that when food comes, hope comes.
Once, while delivering food aid to a village in Colombia, the mayor pointed to a farmer and said, “Without them, we die.” His comment set me on a journey to understand farmers and ranchers. One way I learned was by writing about them for Kansas Farm Bureau’s membership magazine, Kansas Living. In so doing, I fell in love with them.
Once the pandemic hit in 2020, fear swept over consumers as they found empty store shelves. Enter Shop Kansas Farms. Suddenly, fearful shoppers found food near them on a local farm.
Kansas farmers brought hope and calmed public fears. To my great joy, the public fell in love with them, too.
You can find a farm near you at www. shopkansasfarms.com.
Rick McNary is a leader in bringing people together to build community and reduce hunger in sustainable ways. McNary is a 1978 graduate of Flinthills High School.
