(Gift) CSA recommendations in Kansas City area
December 10, 2015 2:55 PM Subscribe
Kansas City folk: please issue your endorsements (or anti-endorsements) for community supported agriculture (CSA) farms in the Kansas City area. In particular, which farms have shares suitable for smaller households (2 people) and have pickups in convenient-but-interesting spots?
A couple I know will be moving to the KC area in the spring. I'm considering gifting them a CSA share in their new area for the summer since they won't be able to get a garden going immediately. It's also something they won't have to move!
I found this relatively recent roundup of farms. One minor hitch is that I (and they) don't yet know which part of the city/surrounds they'll end up in. I don't know the area at all, so I need your local insight.
So, my questions:
1. Do you have experience with CSAs in KC? Please give me your reviews/recs.
2. Do you have suggestions about which pickup locations would be (ideally) geographically neutral and (if geographically inconvenient for the recipients) interesting places for recurring visits?
Even if I don't end up using this as their gift, I'll pass your intel along so they can sign themselves up.
A couple I know will be moving to the KC area in the spring. I'm considering gifting them a CSA share in their new area for the summer since they won't be able to get a garden going immediately. It's also something they won't have to move!
I found this relatively recent roundup of farms. One minor hitch is that I (and they) don't yet know which part of the city/surrounds they'll end up in. I don't know the area at all, so I need your local insight.
So, my questions:
1. Do you have experience with CSAs in KC? Please give me your reviews/recs.
2. Do you have suggestions about which pickup locations would be (ideally) geographically neutral and (if geographically inconvenient for the recipients) interesting places for recurring visits?
Even if I don't end up using this as their gift, I'll pass your intel along so they can sign themselves up.
I'd add, and not to be flip, but this is the Midwest -- people out here get their produce from the grocery store. Neighborhood coops and the like are somewhat less common here than I expect they are in the PNW.
posted by killdevil at 4:08 PM on December 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by killdevil at 4:08 PM on December 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I live forty minutes from Kansas City and there is a tremendous fantastic variety of CSAs and food producers. It helps if you can give a rough idea of where they will be located (county name usually works, or North KC or downtown).
Killdevil is referring to the City Market which operates year round and is a pickup spot for a lot of cool CSAs. Badseed hosts a weekly farmers market on Friday nights and operates a CSA.
There's a round up of KC food producers (http://kcfoodcircle.org/) that was greatly helpful when I was looking for milk, dairy and veggies.
posted by annathea at 7:13 PM on December 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
Killdevil is referring to the City Market which operates year round and is a pickup spot for a lot of cool CSAs. Badseed hosts a weekly farmers market on Friday nights and operates a CSA.
There's a round up of KC food producers (http://kcfoodcircle.org/) that was greatly helpful when I was looking for milk, dairy and veggies.
posted by annathea at 7:13 PM on December 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
I have a friend who is involved with an organization called Cultivate Kansas City, who in addition to other local/community ag stuff, operate a CSA.
Their site links to another organization, KC Food Circle that appears to have info on a bunch of CSAs. (Which I just realize Annathea mentioned also, whoops!)
I didn't have a CSA share when I lived in KC so I can't vouch for one in particular, but the Cultivate people are really great and do good work.
One thing: Kansas City is a pretty big (in terms of physical size) metro area. Depending on where your friends live might make a big difference about what's convenient. One that picks up near downtown KC might be easier to get to via the highway if they're living out in the 'burbs, but that's about as geographically neutral advice as I can give.
posted by dismas at 7:00 AM on December 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Their site links to another organization, KC Food Circle that appears to have info on a bunch of CSAs. (Which I just realize Annathea mentioned also, whoops!)
I didn't have a CSA share when I lived in KC so I can't vouch for one in particular, but the Cultivate people are really great and do good work.
One thing: Kansas City is a pretty big (in terms of physical size) metro area. Depending on where your friends live might make a big difference about what's convenient. One that picks up near downtown KC might be easier to get to via the highway if they're living out in the 'burbs, but that's about as geographically neutral advice as I can give.
posted by dismas at 7:00 AM on December 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Late to the party, but at least one local grocery chain with several locations has a CSA program.
posted by dave*p at 6:52 AM on December 15, 2015
posted by dave*p at 6:52 AM on December 15, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
Not a direct answer, but the stock response to "where to go to get good produce in KC" is the Farmer's Market -- oldest and largest one in the Midwest! Encourage your friends to check it out, it's pretty great.
posted by killdevil at 3:19 PM on December 10, 2015 [1 favorite]