Pittsburg nonprofit ‘Community Green Farms’ receives $1M boost for sustainable food initiative

PITTSBURG, Kan. — Quite the financial boost for the Pittsburg nonprofit that focuses on growing sustainable food.

Community Green Farms has received a little more than one million dollars from the Kansas Department for Children and Families. It’s called the “SPARK” Community Capacity Grant. “SPARK” stands for “Strengthening People and Revitalizing Kansas.”Farm-to-School initiative enters phase one in Pittsburg

The money will be used for the facility’s “Farm to School” initiative, specifically for schools in Allen, Anderson, Bourbon, Labette, Linn, Montgomery, and Wilson counties.

“Now that the state is sort of backing this effort of teaching children and bringing fresh food into schools, we’re going to be able to do the next seven in the same amount of time. So by the two years from now, there will be ten of these. And southeast Kansas students learning about ag and nutrition while also growing food for their school food programs,” said Matt O’Malley.

Over the past couple of years, Community Green Farms has worked to implement hydroponic farm classrooms in schools in Crawford, Neosho, and Cherokee counties. They will eventually be in at least one school in all 105 Kansas counties.