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.

“This year marks our fourteenth year for the Growing Food Growing Health Garden at West Middle School, and our fifth year for the Growing Food Growing Hope Garden at First Step at Lake View, residential addiction treatment center for women – both located in Lawrence.

Our crew of Student Gardeners tend these gardens, donating all produce through our weekly Free Market at Edgewood Homes. In 2022, over two tons of sustainably grown vegetables were distributed to help feed our neighbors in need. GFGH is about growing food, sharing food, and developing youth leaders committed to creating food justice for all.”

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 for Refugees 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!

May 13 - mid-OCTOBER

• Saturdays, 8 am - 12 pm