2026 Annual Farmers & Friends Recap – What a Fantastic Day

Posted on February 11, 2026 by Alicia Alferman

As the people who oversee logistics of the Annual Farmers & Friends Meeting, it’s sometimes easy to get overwhelmed by the details and not enjoy what this meeting means each year. But it’s not lost on us that in tumultuous times, gathering together and Growing in Community is immensely important. This year the day was particularly sweet, as we witnessed so many folks from this diverse food community come together and commiserate, connect, learn from and support each other. By our count, it was one of the best attended Annual Farmers & Friends Meetings in years.

The morning included the usual potluck pie breakfast and the presentation of the John Kaiahua Mentorship Award to the legendary Marty Kraft of Heartland All Species Project’s Tracy Garden. Marty is a true gem of a human and has been a leader in the environmental movement here in Kansas City for decades, sharing his contagious passion for soil microbes and Johnson-Su Composting with his community.

The breakout sessions that followed were well attended and received. Shout out to the AFFM Planning Committee for pulling these fantastic sessions together! Topics included:

  • Local Food Purchasing: Connecting Farmers & Buyers
  • Food Systems, Food Policy, & How They Shape Each Other
  • Alternative Economies: Opportunities to Grow Your Food Business & Community
  • How to Become a Farmers Market Vendor
  • Alternative Funding Sources
  • Land Access & Succession Planning: Challenges & Solutions

We were pleased to share lunch of pizza and salad made with locally grown ingredients with the crowd. During lunch we were joined by Jay Antle, JCCC Center for Sustainability Executive Director, and Claire Zimmerman, JCCC Open Petal Farm Manager, to honor Stu Shafer, who recently passed away after a long and distinguished career as a Professor of Sociology and Sustainable Agriculture. Stu’s legacy lives on through the Open Petal Farm, a project he helped establish and nurture. Losing Stu is a loss for our entire community, and we feel honored to have known and worked with him.

The day wrapped up with the Growing in Community Keynote Panel. Jasmin Moore, Senior Director of Sustainability and Impact at Earthjustice, led the powerful conversation featuring Staroyce Nealy, community organizer and Executive Director of Global One Urban Farming; Ryan Sorrell, founder of The Kansas City Defender; Raymond Forstater, organizer with Sunrise Movement KC; and Thomas Smith, of the Kansas City Food Hub and KC Tenants. 

Cultivate KC Executive Director Brien Darby summed our feelings up well in her post-event message to staff. “I never feel like we are living our mission more thoroughly than at AFFM. What a joy to see so many different parts of our programming and communities coming together today.”

Some things we don’t want you to miss: 

If you attended this year’s event, please fill out the following event survey. We value your input and strive to make this event what our community wants and needs:

2026 Annual Farmers & Friends Meeting Event Survey

And you may be looking for the AFFM Zine. BIG NEWS: It’s gone DIGITAL! Check out the webzine here:

2026 Annual Farmers & Friends Meeting Webzine

2026 AFFM Webzine

A huge THANK YOU goes out to our planning committee. We are grateful for your commitment and help putting together this event!

The Annual Farmers & Friends Meeting  wouldn’t be possible without support from our sponsors:

 

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