Community Mercantile Education Foundation

Community Mercantile Education Foundation (CMEF), a 501(c)(3), was established in 1999 for the purpose of extending the educational outreach being done by our sister organization, The Merc Co+op. The mission of CMEF is to nourish and inspire personal well being, strengthen community connections, and support sustainable, local food systems. We fulfill our mission by creating beautiful and productive gardens, developing youth leaders, and using food as a transformative path to health.

Garden Projects

The Growing Food Growing Health Garden projects are committed to helping feed, nourish and inspire our community.

“Growing Food Growing Health’s mission is to nourish and inspire personal well-being, strengthen community connections, and support local, sustainable food systems. We fulfill our mission by creating beautiful and productive gardens, developing youth leaders who are the stewards of our gardens, and sharing our bounty with those most in need in our community.

We run two gardens — the Growing Food Growing Health Garden at West Middle School, and the Growing Food Growing Hope Garden at First Step, a residential addiction treatment center for women and their children. All produce from these gardens, over 4,000 lbs. in 2023, is donated to help feed and nurture our community, either distributed at our weekly Free Market at Edgewood Homes or given to the kitchen at First Step.”

Contact CMEF at 785-841-7617 or by email.

Community Supported Agriculture

Rolling Prairie CSA

Rolling Prairie is the oldest Midwest vegetable cooperative. The original group of farmers joined together in 1994 providing a vegetable subscription service to Lawrence and Kansas City. Over 300 households receive a weekly bag of locally grown produce during the growing season. While not all of our farms are now certified organic, they still follow the same natural, ecologically sustainable, organic practices for growing food that they have used since they started over twenty years ago.

PICK UP TIMES AT 901 IOWA IN LAWRENCE

• Mondays: 4 – 6 p.m.

• Thursdays: 4 – 5:30 p.m. (April – October)

PICK UP TIMES AT 501 MINNESOTA IN KANSAS CITY

• Thursdays 4 – 6 p.m. (April – October)

New Roots for Refugees Farm Shares

New Roots is a four-year training program that began in 2008 as a collaboration between Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas and Cultivate KC. Both organizations work to provide farmer training and market support at the Juniper Gardens Training Farm to help farmers develop and maintain small businesses after graduation.

Previously known as “CSA” (Community Supported Agriculture), our new “Farm Share” program allows customers to invest in our farm and farmers by paying upfront or in monthly installments for several weeks of vegetables throughout the season. This gives the customer a chance to deepen their engagement with our program and learn about the seasonality of farming in Kansas City, while giving the farmers an expanded and reliable market for their produce.

PICK UP TIMES AT 501 MINNESOTA IN KANSAS CITY

• Thursdays 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (May 10 – October 12)

Farmers Markets

KCK Farmers Market

The Merc Co+op is proud to host the The KCK Farmers Market in our co-op’s parking lot at 501 Minnesota!

“We bring high quality, local food to Wyandotte neighborhoods that either lack access to grocery stores or have populations of high need. We make nutritious food more affordable for SNAP recipients and low-income seniors, who make up the majority of our market customers.”

The market accepts cash, debit, SNAP (food stamps), and Kansas Senior Farmers' Market Nutrition Program vouchers. They partner with "Double Up Food Bucks" managed by Cultivate KC to offer a match on SNAP and SFMNP!​

June 1 – mid-OCTOBER

• Saturdays, 8 am – 12 pm

The Merc Co+op is a proud sponsor of the Kaw Valley Farm Tour, which takes place the first weekend in October.

2024

• Saturday, October 5, 2024 from 9 am - 6 pm

• Sunday, October 6, 2024 from 10 am - 5 pm