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Posted on Sat, Oct. 03, 2009 10:15 PM
Grow food, no lawns, urban farmer says
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Steve Mann recently spent a late summer Sunday afternoon creating beds for broccoli, cauliflower, beets, peas and other autumn crops. Of course this local urban farmer spends lots of afternoons planting, growing and harvesting food. He’s the man behind the 2 1/2 -acre Platte Prairie Farms and the creator and coordinator of the “Food Not Lawns” Web site.
Mann also teaches a “Food Not Lawns” class at UMKC’s Communiversity, leads seminars on urban farming, and produces and co-hosts the show “EcoRadio KC” on the community radio station KKFI.
“Urban farmers are the new pioneers,” Mann, of Kansas City, says, taking a break from his gardening. “We’re reclaiming empty lots for families to grow healthy food. We want people to have a piece of their own food security.”
People should be able to walk a few feet to find healthy, ripe food, instead of relying on other people, he says.
“We’ve lost a lot of the knowledge our forefathers had on how to survive. This is about value change for survival. If we want to survive on Earth we’re going to have to change our values as we relate to the earth”
Mann had his first garden when he was 8 years old behind his father’s barber shop in St. Joseph, Mo. While he has gardened throughout his life, it became his full-time job when he was laid off two years ago.
He sells his food on Friday evenings at Bad Seed Market, 1909 McGee St..
“I noticed that people weren’t getting the nutrition they need, so I started growing the food it took to have proper nutrition,” he says.
ON THE WEB
Food Not Lawns: www.foodnotlawnskc.org
Food Not Lawns: www.foodnotlawnskc.org
Mann’s farm: www.prairietrading.com
Communiversity: www.umkc.edu/commu
Bad Seed Market: www.badseedfarm.com
| Jan Landon, Special to The Star Send ideas for Green Home to home@kcstar.com or House + Home, FYI, The Kansas City Star, 1729 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, MO 64108.
Posted on Sat, Oct. 03, 2009 10:15 PM
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