Kansas City’s Historic City Market is a gentle reminder that people in the region have always been tied to the land.

“From the earliest days, everyone would come here with their produce,” Market Master Deb Connors told The Produce News. “Then it evolved into a wholesale market with truckloads of goods.” Ethnic influences, particularly Italian, have always been strong and important.

In the mid-1990s, the city redoubled its efforts to clean up the market. “We had a reputation for a nasty market,” Ms. Connors said. “The reputation was earned, but it’s changed.” With the refocus, the City Market evolved into a new configuration sporting three local-grown produce pavilions and a host of mom-and-pop businesses. The market is also a popular event venue throughout the year.

Kansas City’s Historic City Market is a popular venue at any time of year. The 11-acre site houses a farmers’ market pavilion, a commercially licensed kitchen and retail shops. Community events are also scheduled throughout the year at the City Market. (Photo courtesy of the City Market)The success of the work is validated by the fact that the City Market — which is open every Saturday and Sunday of the year — is a draw for locals and international tourists alike. Locals appreciate their connections to area producers. International visitors and people who have immigrated to the United States are pleased to find a market that reminds them of home.

“It’s quite a tourist destination, actually,” Ms. Connors said.

“We do customer counts every month [from May through October],” she continued. Eight years of data have been collected. Customer attendance on Saturdays ranges from 13,000 to 14,000 people between the hours of 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. Sunday attendance averages 4,000 people between the hours of 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.

“That number has actually increased,” Ms. Connors stated of Sunday attendance. She first came on board as market master a decade ago. “When I first started, there were two vendors on Sunday,” she recalled. “Today it’s more than 50.”

The slant on locally grown commodities and handmade items keeps Ms. Connors busy. “Our ‘local’ is 500 miles,” she said, thereby ensuring that businesses from Missouri can set up shop at the market. One of her responsibilities is to do farm checks to ensure farmers are actually producing the commodities they sell at the market. “It weeds out the cheaters,” she commented. These inspections also mean that produce quality is high. “A lot of farmers who left originally have returned to the market,” she said of the positive result of inspections.

The farmers’ market accepts state-issued Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program/Electronic Benefit Transfer Cards from Missouri, Kansas and all other states. Formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, SNAP is a federally funded program that delivers monthly benefits to 35 million Americans nationwide. Ms. Connors said SNAP participants can present tokens to vendors to purchase their fresh produce. Each month, the market cuts a check to eligible vendors for purchases made through the SNAP program.

Ms. Connors said this is a win-win for all parties. “We have such a diverse shopping crowd and vendors,” she noted.

In addition to the farmers’ market, a number of the permanent retail stores at the site sell fresh produce. According to Ms. Connors, some of these stores source their commodities from regional distributors in the Kansas City area. “We have the USDA come in and inspect our produce stores,” she said.

Last year the market received grant money to create a commercial kitchen. “It’s just getting off the ground,” Ms. Connors stated. The kitchen is used for educational purposes and free classes. “Now we have the extension office coming in and doing cooking demos,” she added.

Looking down the road, Ms. Connors said the City Market hopes to collaborate with USDA to provide area farmers with food-safety training. The concept of a children’s garden has also been raised.

She is gratified by all the activity that has occurred in the past 10 years. “I wonder what I did when I first started,” she laughed. “I have a nice job.”