My Farm Roots: Farm Kid Without a Farm
In the Midwest, agriculture can be such a strong lure that there are some farm kids without farms. Ally Babcock lives with her family in a modern subdivision in Ames, Iowa. Tucked under the home’s back deck is a tiny barn space, enough room for her sheep and rabbits. “It’s a little difficult [not living…
Who says no one gets a free lunch? USDA program brings exactly that to KC kids.
On a recent scorching July afternoon in front of the De Soto Aquatic Center, a young boy is shouting out his lunch choice, as his parents look on in amusement. “I want the jammy sammy!” Of course he is choosing the PB&J over the more sophisticated fruit and cheese plates also on offer at this…
Dude, where’s my food truck?
A jogger circling Macken Park in North Kansas City stops to catch his breath and does a double take as he glances at the parking lot on his left. An impromptu dining room has sprung up with five white highboy tables a few feet from contractor’s trucks and minivans. A dozen people are eating lunch…
A roundup of water issues facing Kansans — now and in the future
Editor’s note: Throughout this week, Flatland has published a series of stories from our partner, the Kansas Health Initiative, exploring how people access water, the economics of water and the challenges of drinking it. To find these stories, freelance journalist Sarah Green interviewed more than 50 Kansans in person, over the phone and by email over the course of seven months. For additional reporting and images in…
Kansas City’s cup of tea
There are four cups sitting in front of Tyler Beckett, in a small warehouse just north of the river in Kansas City. Beckett uses a spoon to sip the first sample. “It’s got that nice beautiful smokiness to it.” he says about his first taste. He takes a sip of the second sample. It’s more…
Plentiful access to water fuels prosperity in rural Republic County community
In mid-fall, trucks full of corn and soybeans rumble through the north-central Kansas town of Courtland on their way to the grain elevator at the south end of Main Street. While neighboring counties struggle to survive, the western half of Republic County, including Courtland, population 273, isn’t doing too bad. Technology and insurance companies support the…
Superintendent carousel turns as students return to class
The start of school typically brings with it a crop of new students and staffers.
Yet classes are resuming this year in the Kansas City area amidst a remarkable run of new superintendents in Missouri-side school districts, according to the Cooperating School Districts of Greater Kansas City, a consortium that stretches across several counties and represents more than 185,000 students.
Turning from the tap
Natalie Horton doesn’t drink the tap water in Hiawatha. Neither does her 2-year-old son Silas. She already thought the water smelled and tasted funny. About a year ago, she read a Facebook post from a friend that said the water in Hiawatha wasn’t safe to drink. “I heard we had nitrates in our water, so now I buy…
Most water in Kansas safe to drink
The good news about the public water supply in Kansas is that almost all of it is safe to drink. About 96 percent of Kansans receive water from public water supplies that meet or exceed all state and federal regulations for clean water, said Mike Tate, director of the Bureau of Water for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. “The vast, vast majority of…
Obesity And Diabetes In KC Area Continue To Rise
While health trends in metropolitan Kansas City are generally headed in a positive direction, two exceptions are obesity and diabetes. Every county from 2004 to 2011 saw growth in the rates of those conditions. There’s a glimmer of good news, however. Measured across shorter time frames, 2004-2007 and 2008-2011, the rates for those conditions have…
Deaf Kansans Request Medicaid Changes
It’s common knowledge that a child’s first years are critical for language development. But what if that child is deaf and has parents who don’t know sign language? Chriz Dally, a board member of the Kansas Association of the Deaf, posed that scenario last month at a meeting of state officials and members of the…
Monsanto, world’s largest seed company, sets off a corporate ‘feeding frenzy’
Monsanto, the world’s largest seed company, is attempting to swallow up the chemical operations of Syngenta, the world’s largest producer of pesticides and other farm inputs. The proposed deal signals a change in focus for the agricultural giant, and could have ripple effects across farm country. By its own admission, Monsanto lags behind in chemistry…
Growing agriculture jobs far from the field
Listen to the story: Technology has transformed farming, one of the Midwest’s biggest industries, and while fewer people are now needed to actually work the farm field, new types of jobs keep many office workers tied to agriculture. Beyond operating a tractor and a combine, today’s farmers need to manage all kinds of information. From…
Kansas Officials Cancel Limits On ATM Welfare Withdrawals
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration will not follow through on plans to limit welfare recipients to cash withdrawals of $25 per day. Phyllis Gilmore, secretary of the Kansas Department for Children and Families, said Tuesday that federal officials objected to the limit, saying that it would prevent needy families from having “adequate access to their…
K-State, Future Home of Federal Biolab, Faces Federal Sanctions
Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan., future home of a controversial Homeland Security biolab, got a dressing down last year from federal regulators over its handling of dangerous pathogens. State dollars are helping to support construction of the $1.25 billion lab, which will research hoof and mouth disease and other agriculture-related pathogens, when it opens…