Rick McNary

I was flabbergasted when I walked out of the Bar-K-Bar Arena building in Lyons and saw that huge parking lot filled with vehicles at the first Market of Farms in 2022. More than 1,400 people came to buy from the 42 vendors we had set up in the Celebration Centre, just south of the Bar-K-Bar Arena.

Have you ever had an idea grab hold of you so tight, it just will not let go? You think about it, research it, ask other people about and try to let it go, but it just keeps hanging on? Then you try to make the idea come to reality and you get great traction, then, poof, it is gone? But you cannot quite give it up, so you wait. And wait. And wait.

If you were to look at the various rules we have for our Facebook group, each one was instituted in reaction to someone who tried to take us a different direction from our mission and values. One that is often broken is in regards to people fussing with a farmer over prices. It happened again this week, so I put up the following post about what type of civil engagement we expect in our group. Within one day, more than 2,200 people reacted positively and more than 250 comments in support were made.

1. You know exactly where your food comes from, how it is raised, how it is processed, and why it tastes so good.
2. You get to personally know the farmer/rancher/grower who grows it.
3. You provide the farmers the ability to be paid fairly for their products.
4. You help rural Kansas prosper.
5. You help family farms keep the farm in the family.
6. You help the Kansas economy, rather than another state's economy.
7. You become friends with the people who grow your food.
8. You have new stories to tell others about the farmers you know and how your food