Resources

We focus on engaging an entire community to create a stronger local economy by building a practical, physical food system of production, processing and distribution for locally grown foods.

Harkening back to the era of cattle drives, branding cattle with visual markings was critical to ownership. The SCHH brand, or logo, is a visual marking that ties producers and processors and creates a sense of community ownership, meaning people will see the logo on various farms and food products and know the food is truly grown locally. Like cowboys who “ride for the brand,” there will be a sense of community pride created by the logo, also known as the brand.

Sedgwick County has a long history of agriculture production. In fact, the city of Wichita has long been known as “the Cowtown” because of its early connection the cattle drives and the beef industry. Our name also refers to the geographical boundaries of the county, but our intent, like our history proves, provides food not only for local consumers but the rest of the world as well.  

A value-added product is anything that has gone through some kind of processing to create a longer shelf –life, such as tomatoes to salsas, fruits to jams, meat to jerky, etc. The virtue of value-added products is the possibility of a national market if you can ship.

Vegetables and fruit, also known as specialty crops, must be distributed quickly once harvested. However, if there is cold storage available, the shelf life can be extended but often the grower does not have the capacity for on-the-farm cold storage. Likewise, specialty crops can be turned into “value-added” products such as tomatoes into salsas, but they must have a certified commercial kitchen or canner to do that. There are few commercial kitchens available for rent 24/7 and almost no canneries in the state.

Small meat lockers have slowly disappeared over the years. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand from consumers wanting to purchase directly from farms created a supply issue as many lockers were, and still are, booked for months or years in advance.

For people who grow food with the intent to sell it directly to consumers, there are missing or weak links in the local supply chain that need to be either repaired or expanded.

A supply chain is created by connecting the three components of a food system to each other like links in a chain.

A food system is made up of three basic components:

1. Production – growing a plant or animal until it is ready to harvest.

2. Processing – taking the plant or animal and preparing it for human consumption. 

3. Distribution – getting that product to the consumer’s plate.

There are two types of town halls:

• Informational: The first round in a community will provide the information and answer any questions.

• Educational: Based on surveys sent out from the first town hall, educational topics will be selected, and town halls will be educationally focused.

The purpose of SCHH town halls are to create awareness and action in the community to create economic opportunities for farms and ranches by establishing both a digital hub (website) and a physical system of production, processing and distribution of local food that can be purchased by local, regional and national consumers.

To start, monthly town halls will be held in various locations in the region.

The movement is based on two fundamental principles:

​1. Economic development – we will help existing businesses expand as well as help new businesses start up.

​2. Community engagement – the community will come together in practical, creative ways to support their local producers, processors and distributors to create a stronger economy.
 

The SCHH website connects producers and consumers to each other. Producers and consumers in the region will be able to look on a map and identify the farms where their local food is being produced, the commercial kitchens and lockers where the food is processed, and how and where those items can be purchased.
 

As this builds out, you should be able to physically locate producers and processing plants for meat and specialty crops as well as distribution points and methods. All of these will be tied to the SCHH brand.

The SCHH is a community-based approach that creates economic opportunities for farms and ranches by establishing both a digital hub (website) and a physical system of production, processing and distribution of local food that can be purchased by local, regional and national consumers.