Environment .

Increasingly the region’s residents are looking for better access to fresh, local food, and showing an interest in producing and selling food closer to home. This is a result of a growing awareness of the health, environmental and economic benefits of buildSing a sustainable local food system.

Many local governments also recognize these sustainable benefits and are responding with a range of actions and planning activities. Examples include innovative land-use ordinances that support urban and rural agricultural practices, new resources for community gardening, incentives for retail businesses that sell healthy food, and opportunities for local producers to sell in markets and other local outlets.

This episode will take you to the Ivanhoe neighborhood in Kansas City, Mo., where residents are not only growing community gardens and urban orchards but also operating food stands to sell their products in what is recognized as a food desert. You’ll see how a Juniper Gardens project in Kansas City, Kan., is helping refugees use farming techniques to develop viable business plans while improving access to fresh, healthy food in the urban core. And you’ll visit one of more than 100 local schoolyard gardens where school children are becoming more connected to fresh, healthy food, and learning where food comes from and why that matters.