KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Good thing it isn’t hard for Joey Carr to find motivation.
“A farmer or a gardener or somebody who tends to something like a craftsman. Motivation is usually something that’s hard to describe because it’s always there," said Carr, the co-owner of Missing Ingredient. "For some of them, it’s an itch. I just got to go."
Carr is using a lot of motivation to guide his urban farm through the COVID-19 pandemic. Nestled in Kansas City, Missouri’s Crossroads District, Missing Ingredient normally supplies produce to bars and restaurants only. Now, the general public can pick up items curbside.
“It’s definitely a work in progress, going from loading the truck to handing somebody a box,” Carr said. “But either way we grew something and we’re feeding people. That’s what we do.”
After municipalities in the area issued rules limiting restaurants to carryout only in order to slow the spread of COVID-19, those restaurants stopped ordering as much produce from Missing Ingredient.
The timing was bad. Carr has been ramping up for Easter and Mother’s Day, which he says are two of the busiest days in the restaurant business.
Carr said he currently has a lot of herbs and produce that chefs specifically ask for, which the average consumer may not be accustomed to. But those options will get more mainstream in the coming weeks.
He will continue to plant and grow food because it takes roughly six weeks for his produce to become harvestable. Since no one can predict when the pandemic will end, he has to make sure he has produce ready to harvest and sell the moment restaurants return to normal.
Click here to order from Missing Ingredient.
Other urban farms are adapting too. Urbavore is relying on farmers markets, many of which are still open, to sell its produce. And KC Food Hub launched a subscription service where it will deliver a weekly supply of produce.
