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Category: January 2023

Local Meat Marketing Workshops

Posted on by Karen Blakeslee

As demand grows for local meat, poultry, and eggs, Kansas producers have an opportunity to expand into new markets and grow their customer base.

The Kansas Local Meat Marketing Workshops will help small scale meat, poultry, and egg producers capitalize on this moment. Attend to learn key marketing strategies, best practices, and regulations from the experts, including fellow producers. KDA’s Weights and Measures program will also offer free sales scale certification with paid registration.

Three locations and registration options are:

February 3, 2023 – Wichita, KS

February 23, 2023 – Olathe, KS

March 3, 2023 – Parsons, KS

Cost: $20 per attendee, which includes a local foods lunch. Each workshop will cover the same content and will be held from 10AM-3PM.

The workshops are hosted by the Local Foods Transdisciplinary Team at Kansas State University. It is generously sponsored by the Kansas Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, Walton’s, Kansas Farmers Union, Frontier Farm Credit and the Kansas Rural Center.

For questions about these workshops or to become a sponsor, please contact Erica Blair at elblair@ksu.edu.

Local Meat Marketing

Food Safety in Blessing Boxes

Posted on by Karen Blakeslee

Many communities have Blessing Boxes, Parking Lot Pantries, or similar efforts to offer easy access to foods and other items for people in need, which helps improve food security. Such boxes also are convenient places for people to donate food and other items. However, because these pantries are normally outside and subject to extreme temperatures in various seasons of the year, not all foods are safe to donate. It is critical that foods available through “Blessing Boxes” are as safe and nutritious as possible to truly be a blessing to those using the boxes.

Source:  Food Safety in Blessing Boxes, NCFSEN

 

Kansas Local Food Purchase Assistance Program

Posted on by Karen Blakeslee
eggs
Photo: USDA ARS

The Kansas Department of Agriculture is now accepting applications from producers to participate in the Kansas Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) Program. The Kansas LFPA Program will strengthen the state’s local food system by providing expanded wholesale market access to Kansas’ food producers and increasing access to locally sourced food in rural and urban counties impacted by food insecurity.

KDA was awarded a $2,500,000 cooperative agreement under the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service’s Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program. Funds will be used to purchase and distribute Kansas grown and processed foods to underserved communities and families across Kansas through the state’s existing distribution network of food banks.

Kansas producers are encouraged to apply to participate in order to sell their products to the food banks serving the state. Products eligible for sale under the program include produce, dairy, meat, eggs, honey, and processed foods. Products must be grown or processed local to Kansas to be eligible for sale under the program.

Applications due by 5:00pm CST on February 15, 2023. Contact Brittney Grother at Brittney.Grother@ks.gov or 785-564-6797.

 

Women Managing the Farm Conference

Posted on by Karen Blakeslee

Women Managing the Farm is a comprehensive program to connect women involved in the many aspects of agriculture. The annual conference provides valuable tools and materials to address production, price, human, financial, and legal risks of farm women at all levels.

The project builds upon the knowledge that farm women do play an active role in all aspects of financial and risk management of the farm. The changing dynamics and economics of the farm operation and the farm household lead to the changing roles women play on the farm today.

February 15-17, 2023
Manhattan, KS

Information and Registration

 

2023 National Festival of Breads

Posted on by Karen Blakeslee

National Festival of BreadsThe 2023 National Festival of Breads is going virtual! This is a yeast bread competition for adult amateur bakers. So start your mixers and get baking!

Four categories for this year’s contest include Quick and Easy, Wholesome and Healthy, Go Nuts, and Say Cheese. Recipes must be original, which means never published in the same or substantially the same form. Recipes must state the brand and type of flour along with the brand and type of yeast. It must contain at least 75% wheat flour and produce one or more loaves or one dozen or more rolls.

Contest entry begins at 12:00AM CST on January 1, 2023 and ends at 11:59:59 PM CST on February 13, 2023. Refer to the 2023 Official Rules and Regulations for all details.

 

Science in Your Shopping Cart

Posted on by Karen Blakeslee
Grocery cart
Photo: USDA Flickr

Your grocery shopping cart is full of science! And USDA Agricultural Research Service scientists are busy bringing new ideas with food that no one has ever thought of before.

“Science in Your Shopping Cart” is a program to help consumers learn about a wide range of advances in convenience foods, improving shelf life, better nutrition, new flavors and more. They have several ways to communicate their work. They include

Do you know of students interested in Food Science? The Kansas State University Food Science Institute is here to help them discover the possibilities.

 

Fruit Basket Gifts

Posted on by Karen Blakeslee

A holiday tradition is to give gifts of fruits and nuts (along with other products). Usually these are placed in an attractive basket, wrapped with cellophane covering, and brought (or shipped) to your house. It is important that the fruit contained inside is kept in cool conditions to maintain its quality for as long as possible. Thus, it is wise to disassemble the fruit basket as soon as you receive it and place the fruit in refrigerated storage. If all the products in the basket are tree fruits (such as apples, pears, oranges or grapefruit), you can place the entire basket in a cool place- around 40 degrees F for best results. If the basket contains any bananas or other tropical fruits (with the exception of citrus), remove those fruits and store them separately. About 3-4 weeks is about as long as you can expect to store these fruits without some shriveling and loss of crispness.

Source: www.ksuhortnewsletter.org/newsletters/care-of-gift-fruit-baskets4637187

 

 

Meat Processors Support Programming

Posted on by Karen Blakeslee
Meat processing
USDA Multimedia photo by Lance Cheung.

Are you considering starting a meat processing business? Do you have an existing meat processing business that you are ready to scale? The Center for Entrepreneurship program is here to help!

In partnership with the Department of Animal Sciences and Industry, with funding from the K-State Global Food Systems Seed Grant, the Center for Entrepreneurship will provide entrepreneurs in the meat processing industry access to world-class curriculum from K-State faculty and student research teams.

Up to 28 teams will receive a startup business curriculum delivered by K-State faculty. Early-stage entrepreneurs will have access to a customized curriculum. Existing companies gain access to the Strategic Innovation micro-credential offerings from the College of Business.

Apply today! Deadline is February 1, 2023. Contact entrepreneur@ksu.edu for questions.

 

The Food We Waste

Posted on by Karen Blakeslee
Food Waste
Photo: USDA Flickr

What food do you have on hand? Have you shopped your refrigerator or cabinets before going to the grocery store? As you prepare for the holidays, what is your plan for food? While we don’t want to run out of food, think about what you will do with the leftovers. In almost 32% of average households, that leftover food, along with forgotten food, is wasted. Of all of the sources of wasted food, residential homes make up 37.2% of surplus food wasted. What can be done?

Go back to basic consumer skills. During the height of the pandemic, consumers wasted less food. Now that we have resumed many normal activities, that amount of waste has surged. Take a look at your kitchen management plan. Make a shopping list before going to the grocery store. Create a meal plan to utilize what you have before you buy more food. Preparing meals at home can help reduce food waste. Freeze leftovers to use later. Make a plan about the consequences of wasting food at home. Challenge family members with incentives to help encourage smart food use.

Sources:
https://bit.ly/3Ht8Fr0
https://bit.ly/3FIWC7U
https://bit.ly/3BReRpt

 

Reference to any specific commercial products, process, service, manufacturer, or company does not constitute its endorsement or recommendation. Paid for by Kansas State University