Kansas Guide to Eating Local the Right Way

Craig Volland, Agriculture Chair, Sierra Club Kansas Chapter 

CAFOs Team, Sierra Club Kansas Chapter

This is Our Guide to Find Meat, Dairy and Eggs Produced the Right Way

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) with their intensive confinement technology and use of heavily subsidized corn and soybeans for feed were invented in the 1960s to increase production, minimize cost, and maximize profits. It’s no accident that the massive fast food industry and grocery store chains with their extensive meat counters popped up shortly thereafter to distribute these products. 

Pollution from the vast scale of the CAFO system is recognized as a significant contributor to the poor quality of surface and groundwaters in much of the U.S. See the Sierra Club’s National Food and Ag Webpage on the Harms of CAFOs. But small family farms that raise their animals the right way still exist and are, in some areas, making a comeback. This is Our Guide to Find Meat, Dairy and Eggs Produced the Right Way, where animals are raised in open, more natural environments, such as on pasture, among trees or in spacious pens, hereinafter referred to as “free-range or pastured.” While you are at it, you can also look for farmers that grow produce with organic (pesticide-free) methods that reduce erosion and regenerate the soil with carbon-dense organic matter.

You could also help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution and inhumane treatment of animals by reducing your consumption of animal products and pursuing a more plant-based diet.

Best Place to Start Looking for Free-Range Products: Farmers’ Markets

While some family farms distribute their products at farm stands or even deliver to your door, the best way to shop from local farmers is to find them at a nearby Farmers’ Market. In our major metro areas such as Kansas City, Wichita, Lawrence, and Topeka there are several farmers’ markets to choose from. Fortunately, the Kansas State Research & Extension has created a list of farmers’ markets in Kansas, 114 of them! There you can ask the right questions about how their animals are raised and what methods they use to grow their produce. 

To get an idea of what products are likely to be at a farmers’ market at different times of year, see this guide from Kansas Grown.

State-Wide List of Individual Farmers

Note: we have not verified how these farms operate and how those that offer meat, dairy and eggs produce these items. However, many of these farms have a website where you can start by asking the right questions.

Regional Directories

1. Wichita – Maintained by the Sedgewick Co. Extension, the ICT Food Circle includes 16 farmers’ markets and individual farmer listings 
2. South of Wichita – Border Queen Harvest Hub
3. NW of Wichita – Reno County Directory
4. Kansas City Metro – KC Food Circle – specializes in organic and free-range/pastured
5. Lawrence – Growing Lawrence Local Directory
6. Western Prairie Food Farm and Community Alliance - Food Directory  &  Fetty Farms, Leoti, KS
7. Manhattan – Nourish Together - Riley County Farm & Food Council

8. Northwest Kansas – My Food Shed  &  Farmer Direct Foods – regenerative grown flours

    

National List covering Kansas 

eatWild featuring pastured products (click on Kansas in map).
 

DISCLAIMER
Listings are provided for informational purposes only and Sierra Club is not responsible for their content. Inclusion does not constitute an endorsement, sponsorship, or recommendation by the Sierra Club Kansas Chapter.