Local Produce Grown by Kansas City Farmers
New Roots is a training program that empowers refugees, immigrants and English Language Learner farmers to develop sustainable businesses.
The collaboration between Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas and Cultivate KC helps individuals with an agricultural background in their home countries adapt to Kansas City climate and culture while supporting their families.
Our trainee and graduate farmers use organic principles and sell their produce to local restaurants, at farmers markets and through Farm Share subscriptions.
Empowering Refugees, Immigrants & English Language Learners
25 Markets
Farmers and graduates sell at 25 markets across the Kansas City metro, including Lawrence, Overland Park, Independence, Parkville, Lee's Summit and Liberty.
46 Graduates
Of the 46 farmers who graduated through the New Roots program, 31 still grow food and 25 continue to grow and sell in the KC metro.
16 Acres
New Roots graduates currently farm 16 acres of land. The Juniper Gardens training farm, which follows organic practices, has quarter-acre to one-acre plots for each trainee farmer.
Purchase our local, sustainably-grown produce
Farm Share
Sign up for weekly vegetable deliveries and enjoy a season's worth of locally grown, fresh produce.
Markets
Shop from New Roots farmers and graduates at local farmers markets across the greater Kansas City metro.
Online
During our Farm Share season, we also sell individual produce items available for pickup at local organizations.
Interested in purchasing wholesale for a restaurant or other retailer? More Details.
2023 STATISTICS
Recent Blog Posts
Last Fall, Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas was awarded a very generous grant from the William G. McGowan Charitable Fund to purchase food for the Kansas City Metro area. The best part for us was that Catholic Charities allocated a large portion of the funds to supply their pantries with local, nutrient-dense vegetables grown by New Roots farmers!
Sales Coordinator Craig Howard met with farmers and worked on a plan for months to prepare for these weekly orders which would be the largest consistent wholesale orders New Roots has ever received. We were all a little nervous – could we do it? Could the farmers grow enough? Could we pack it fast enough? Could we get it delivered on time? Was there even enough room in our coolers???
The answer is yes! With Craig’s leadership, we’re happy to announce we’ve successfully ordered and delivered between 600-1000 pounds of produce per week for the past four weeks. Together, the farmers have made over $16,000 to support their businesses and their families. That amounts to 3,388 pounds of fresh, healthy food distributed in our community so far! And we aren’t done – we still have many more weeks of the summer left.
We wouldn’t be able to do this without the dedication of the Catholic Charities grants team, the distribution center team, and, of course, the generosity of the McGowan family. We are amazed and so grateful that so many people have come together for the good of Kansas City!
#kansascity #kcmo #kck #kcfood #urbanfarming
@catholiccharitiesks
@cultivatekc
Jun 18
🍓 Staff plot strawberries!
🍓 Did you know we have a plot on the farm run by our farmer trainer Haley? She uses the plot to show the farmers-in-training real life examples of farming methods. From plant spacing to irrigation to special vegetable varieties, the staff plot is a crucial learning tool here at Juniper Gardens Training Farm.
🍓Thanks to Haley and the Cultivate KC staff for keeping it going and for sharing the strawberries! 🌱💚
@cultivatekc
May 22
😍Did you see the first two weeks of our gorgeous farm share?!
✅ Week 1: Green Garlic, Spinach, Arugula, Mint, Choice of Bok Choy or Kale, and Choice of a Transplant
✅ Week 2: Lettuce Mix, Scallions, Radishes, Bok Choy, Romaine, Cilantro
You can still sign up for our Late Share! It starts in August and runs for 11 weeks. The Flower Share starts at the same time and runs for 6 weeks. Sign up at the link in our bio!
#kceats #kcmo #kck #kclocaleats
May 16
YAY! It’s the first week of our Farm Share!
The wash-stand is busy busy busy this morning!
Here is Ca Saw showing Zawadi how to process the green garlic, and Aung Let is dunking her beautiful kale.
As this caption is being written, Saw Phun Uk is washing up romaine and Len Merry is bundling her green garlic. …and Aung Let has moved on to bagging her spinach! 🥗
It’s a beautiful day on the farm, folks, and we’re so excited for our farm share subscribers to get all this green goodness! Hooray for WEEK ONE! 🥳
May 6
Second year farmer Rubi got irrigation hooked up a few weeks ago with the help of farmer trainer Haley and farm apprentice Maddy!
And would you look at that unique variety of purple Bok Choi that Rubi is growing?! Gorgeous! 🤩
Farmers will post their veggies for wholesale online starting next week, and the CSA starts in 2 weeks on May7/8! The farmers need your support—sign up at the link in our bio!
Apr 25
New Roots farmers were able to learn from Chef Jane Zieha at Blue Bird Bistro a few weeks ago during a special “chef visit” field trip!
These learning opportunities are meant to give farmers experience eating local food served in ways that may be different than their home country’s culture.
Understanding chef expectations can make all the difference when selling wholesale to restaurants, so we want to make sure New Roots farmers have opportunities to see and taste the flavors KC chefs want to create with local produce.
Chef Jane and her staff welcomed us with open arms, a delicious meal, and priceless advice for the farmers! Thank you @blue_bird_bistro ! 💚🌱
#kansascity #kcfood #kclocal #kck #kcwestside
Apr 11
☀️🌱Greenhouse photo dump!
Thanks to generous donors, we now have a gorgeous 6,000 square foot space for New Roots farmers and community members to start their vegetable transplants!
Come out to the farm on May 3rd for our Transplant Sale to get a tour, a coffee, and purchase some plants like the ones growing in these photos!
9:00 AM-1:00 PM
Juniper Gardens Training Farm
100 Richmond Ave. KCK 66101
Apr 10
