Volunteers and young workers broke ground last Friday on the revival of Splitlog Farm, a once-dormant urban farm along Splitlog Avenue and 11th Street in Kansas City, Kansas’ Bethany neighborhood. The project aims to boost the amount of quality free food available to homes across a county that already carries Kansas’ highest food insecurity rate.
From Overgrown Lot to Community Hub
Before the pandemic hit, Splitlog Farm produced 1,500 pounds of food in a single year and served families experiencing food insecurity during the COVID-19 crisis, according to The Kansas City Star. The site had since fallen into disrepair, and on Sept. 25, volunteers cleared overgrowth, decaying structures and a greenhouse to make way for its second act. The revived farm is planned to include free public access, an outdoor classroom, and a community gathering and eating space.
Splitlog Farm’s early history includes a partnership between Community Housing of Wyandotte County and KC Healthy Kids. During the pandemic, the farm produced and distributed food. The site also included a community garden shed.
Cornerstones of Care, Build WyCo and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City all unveiled plans to bring the farm back, the newspaper’s report notes. KC Healthy Kids had also been part of the effort but withdrew from the project after losing funding through the U.S. Department of Agriculture — a gap that underscores how federal funding shifts can ripple through even small neighborhood food programs.
Young Workers Learning Trades While Rebuilding the Soil
Much of the labor is coming through Build Trybe, a vocational workforce program under Cornerstones of Care that trains young adults in conservation landscaping alongside woodworking, metalworking and farming, per the same account. The program also provides job application and transportation support to participants. Theo Bunch, director of Build Trybe, said the groundbreaking followed months of planning and community discussions, and he described the moment as an exciting one…