Rick McNary

We stepped into the surgical waiting room at Ascension Via Christi St. Francis in Wichita to wait for our daughter during her surgery. The room was packed. I noticed the “healthy vending” machine in the hallway and went to check it out. I read the sign that said it was sponsored by h.u.m.a.n., an acronym for Helping Unite Mankind And Nutrition, and saw this messaging:

•    Offering the tastiest, healthiest foods and drinks
•    Donating 10 percent of proceeds to fight childhood obesity

So, treat yourself…and feel good about it!

My phone rang at 2 a.m., and the voice on the other end was desperate.
“Pastor,” the man groaned. “I’m going to end it all. I left the door unlocked. I want you to come take care of my remains.”

It was in the early 1990’s and, although he didn’t attend the church I served, when you’re the only minister in a town of 400 souls, everyone calls you in an emergency.

There are two ways you can buy beef, pork, lamb or bison from a farmer. One way is to buy in bulk by selecting a quarter, half or whole of the animal. The other way is to purchase individual cuts such as ground meat, roasts and chops. What is the difference?

It depends on the licensing level between Kansas Department of Agriculture (KDA) and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) of the meat locker processing the protein. One is state (KDA), the other is federal (USDA). 

In the late 1940s, Dorothy Lynch and her husband ran a restaurant in St. Paul, Neb. She created her own tomato-based salad dressing, which became so popular patrons would bring empty bottles for her to fill with Dorothy Lynch Home Style Dressing. Her famous dressing is now produced in a 64,000-square-foot space in St. Paul, population 351.

How many Dorothy Lynches are there in rural America that have to-die-for family recipes, but can’t produce it in their home kitchens. I firmly believe access to commercial kitchens is the key.

It’s summertime and that means county fair time in Kansas. I loved going to the Butler County Fair as a kid and love it now more as an adult.

The inaugural Oxford Farm Tour on Saturday, June 29, was attended by more than 100 people from as far away as Kansas City who toured each of the five farms in the Oxford area. Organizers of the event all agreed the enthusiasm and number of attendees exceeded their expectations.  

I recently began touring some of the producers, processors and distributors in the Border Queen Harvest Hub (BQHH) that’s situated around Sumner County and here are 10 things I’ve learned.

The Border Queen Harvest Hub (BQHH) Town Hall held in Oxford this month was well attended as farmers, ranchers, public officials and community members gathered to learn about the Harvest Hub, a community-based approach to create economic opportunities for farms and ranches by establishing a physical system of production, processing and distribution of local food that can be purchased by local, regional and national consumers.

The Shop Kansas Farms’ Market of Farms held in Caldwell on Saturday, March 9, was a glowing success. Consumers as far away as Kansas City came to purchase food products from vendors as far away as Seneca. The Market of Farms brings vendors and consumers from all over the state together to make local foods available for purchase. This event was the rollout of the Border Queen Harvest Hub (BQHH).

Businesspeople from Medicine Lodge, Caldwell, Wellington, Belle Plaine, and Oxford in Kansas as well as Medford, Enid and Tonkawa attended the Inaugural Border Queen Harvest Hub at Sugar Sisters in Caldwell on Wednesday, February 21. Thanks to a generous Thriving Rural Grant from the Patterson Family Foundation, Vision Caldwell and Shop Kansas Farms are partnering together to launch the Border Queen Harvest Hub.