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KCMO Council Considers Nurturing Urban Agriculture

Brooke Salvaggio at Bad Seed, the urban farm she started at Bannister Road and State Line Road. Photo by Sylvia Maria Gross / KCUR.
Brooke Salvaggio at Bad Seed, the urban farm she started at Bannister Road and State Line Road. Photo by Sylvia Maria Gross / KCUR.

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-899587.mp3

Kansas City, Mo. – Locally-grown produce is becoming increasingly popular around the country, but in Kansas City, not everyone seems to want food grown as locally as next door. The city council is considering an ordinance to foster urban agriculture.

It would allow people to sell produce out of home or community gardens in residential neighborhoods. Supporters of the new ordinance say it will bring healthy food into disadvantaged areas. But some community leaders are concerned that these small ventures could disrupt otherwise quiet neighborhoods.

KCUR's Sylvia Maria Gross recently visited a home farm in southwest Kansas City. Bad Seed Farm has become ground zero for the debate over urban agriculture. And real estate agent Stacey Johnson-Cosby, with the Center Planning and Development Council, weighs in with concerns about the proposed ordinance.

A final public hearing about the urban agriculture ordinance will be held Wednesday, May 5 at 1:30pm before the Planning and Zoning Committee.

This story was produced for KC Currents. To listen on your own schedule, subscribe to the KC Currents Podcast.

Sylvia Maria Gross is storytelling editor at KCUR 89.3. Reach her on Twitter @pubradiosly.
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