A report by Missouri Coalition for the Environment (MCE) in 2014 outlined the opportunities for local food to meet the nutritional needs of our region while improving soil, air, and water quality and addressing public health outcomes for diabetes and obesity. Known & Grown STL is part of the response to that report and a feasibility study funded by the USDA Local Food Promotion Program.
Our research and experience tells us that corn and soybean production and Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) dominate much of the farmland in the St. Louis Foodshed (the interdependent players in our food system within 150 miles of St. Louis). By contrast, farmers in our program are dedicated to growing their products and raising their animals with practices that protect the Foodshed’s soil, air, and water resources.
Our Mission
Known & Grown STL’s mission is to build a resilient, equitable food community by supporting and promoting farmers within 150 miles of St. Louis that use humane, chemical-free practices and spreading awareness about why environmentally-responsible farming is important.
Our Vision
We want to live in a world where:
- Everyone knows a farmer. We want to help increase the number and diversity of farmers in our foodshed that use regenerative farming practices and are good stewards of our land, air, and water. Customers have options when it comes to local farmers, but sustainable farmers are doing more to protect and preserve the environment. They care about their customers, about their animals, and about our shared air, water, and soil.
- Access to food from our Known & Grown network of farmers is not a privilege. Healthy, pesticide-free, and pasture raised food is available to all people in our foodshed.
- Customers are educated about sustainable buying choices and make informed decisions about their food. Customers will avoid greenwashing and seek out environmentally responsible and pasture raised options.
- Farming is actively used as a regenerative solution to climate change within our foodshed.
- Our foodshed is comprised of a strong, resilient community in the face of shocks and stressors.
- No one is exploited anywhere, up or down our food system. Farmers and their employees make fair wages, community health is not put at risk by factory farms, and animals are treated humanely..
- Farmers in the Known & Grown network are a thriving and essential part of our greater food system.
Anti-Racism at
Known & Grown
We are determined to fight systemic racism in our food system by:
- Using our platforms to share information about food justice
- Providing outreach and assistance to BIPOC farmers
- Lifting the voices of BIPOC organizations working on food justice issues
Our food system and systemic racism have been interwoven since America’s inception, from the removal of Indigenous people from their land to forcing enslaved Black people to work on plantations to more recent crimes, such as food aparthied caused by redlining, worker exploitation, and discriminatory Farm Loan practices. These measures were designed to build wealth for white elites by standing on the backs of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), and have weakened our resilience to shocks and stressors, such as food insecurity, climate change, and global pandemics.
Food, farming, food security, and systemic racism are all interrelated and interdependent. In other words, it is impossible to talk honestly about building a resilient and equitable food community – Known & Grown STL’s mission – without discussing racism’s role in our food system and working to change the status quo.
We invite like minded farmers, future farmers, food suppliers, restaurateurs, consumer advocates, and consumers to join us in building a future where everyone has access to growing and consuming local, humanely-raised, and chemical free food.
If you have suggestions on ways Known & Grown can help in the fight against systemic racism in our food system, email moenviron@moenvironment.org with your ideas.