Urban garden in heart of KC provides fresh, organic produce regardless of income
The Young Family Farm KC started off as a simple backyard garden three years ago. Now
By Jiani Navarro
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KANSAS CITY, Missouri (KCTV) — An urban garden in the heart of Kansas City is making sure everyone can fill their fridge with fresh, organic produce.
Young Family Farm KC started off as a simple backyard garden three years ago. Now, it stretches almost two acres across four different locations in Midtown.
“People would come by and say, ‘Hey, do you grow this and do you grow that?’ And I said, ‘Hey, well, not yet. We haven’t started growing that much,’” Alan Young recalled.
Young and his wife are the green thumbs behind Young Family Farm. Their main garden sits in the Ivanhoe neighborhood. They grow a wide variety of vegetables from greens and cabbage, to tomatoes and cherries.
The farm prides itself on being fully organic. They also don’t use any pesticides or herbicides.
The Young family is not interested in just growing and selling produce, however.
“You’re more than just somebody coming buy something,” said Young. “We like to build relationships with our customers… like a family.”
They’re also hoping to help their community holistically and financially. Young said they want to accommodate those who can’t afford to pay. They’ve just recently started a produce support program for families in need of produce.
“The African American community often suffers from bad eating habits and a lack of good, fresh produce,” Young said. “We pledged that we would adopt 10 families that would come to Young Family Farm, that could not afford to buy the food, that we would adopt.”
Young Family Farm is not only building the health and quality of their plants, but also that of the community they call home.
“The average income Ivanhoe is under $30,000 a year,” Young said. “A lot of people come here, they don’t have very much. They may come and say, ‘Hey, I just have enough for one bunch of greens.’ Well, we don’t let them leave here with just one.”
The state of Missouri has awarded Young Family Farm as the best family farm in Jackson County.
The Young Family Farm KC farmers’ market is on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
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