Family farmers, local food businesses, and community partners from across Missouri will join together Tuesday, February, 24, 2026, at the state capitol in Jefferson City. Missouri Local Farm and Food Advocacy Day is free and open to all interested in keeping family farmers on the land and putting good food on Missouri tables.
Part of the difficulty in building up more regional food supply chains is related to the essential work of connecting farmers to wholesale buyers who need large quantities of produce. The Heartland Food Business Coalition is the ongoing effort of partners from five states to do that and more.
A 20-year grassroots movement in the United States to connect healthcare with fresh and nutrient-dense food is gaining attention and investment. Opportunity exists to stake a claim for food produced by people, places, and regenerative agriculture practices that are critical to our food secure future.
“Adding the cider operation has made our farm a more resilient farm in that we now have income streams year-round and new opportunities to utilize our fruit crops,” said Solstice Farm co-owner Mark Westbrock.
The KCK Farmers’ Market is on the Kansas side of Kansas City in Wyandotte County. It will use a Business Builder grant from the Heartland Regional Food Business Center to improve the market’s visibility and help vendors with marketing in this part of town with few grocery stores.
Central Nebraska Robinette Farms is like a “farm to table grocery store.” Robinette Farms will use a new Business Builder grant from the Heartland Regional Food Business Center to further strengthen its marketing and delivery capacity.
To help Business Builder awardees with upfront costs, the Heartland Center has partnered with three lenders in the region that will offer “bridge loans” to cover out-of-pocket expenses that the grant reimburses. A training on Sept 3 will cover bridge loans and introduce lenders.
Seven food hubs in the Iowa Hub to Hub Network now work together to provide services that reduce time and costs for producers, get more local food to more markets, and help producers keep more of the final sales dollar.
The Heartland Center’s Governance Council will continue deliberations about maintaining the Heartland Center as a network of collaborating support organizations with or without alternative funding.
Lionberry is a case study in what can happen when farm and food entrepreneurs get the right kind of help. And success is often not just for one business.