KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) cited diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in its termination of the Ivanhoe Neighborhood Council's federally funded grant.
"I will say, my initial reaction was frustration and anger," said Ivanhoe Neighborhood Council Executive Director Alana Henry.
Henry received the notice on the evening of Feb. 14.
In the notice, the USDA said the grant award "no longer effectuates agency priorities regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and activities."
"Well, does it mean at all? I mean, truth be told," Henry said when asked what the reasoning of the notice meant to her.
One day after taking office, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins rescinded all Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) programs. Rollins said she welcomes findings from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to assist in her decision-making.
The USDA originally awarded the grant to the Ivanhoe Neighborhood Council last fall. As the Ivanhoe Neighborhood Council spent money, the grant was set to reimburse the council up to $130,000 over three years.
"It was a big deal that we were awarded a very competitive grant through the feds," Henry said.
When the USDA canceled the grant, the council already spent about $5,000. Henry said the council has been reimbursed for around $3,000.
The council — which currently provides a community garden, learning farm and farmers market from June through September — was planning to use the funds to expand its farmers market by supporting local Kansas City growers through training and networking.
The grant would have also partially funded the market manager's salary and fully funded a new part-time assistant market manager's salary. Henry said the Ivanhoe Neighborhood Council is no longer be able to hire an assistant market manager, which the council had already started interviewing for.
Plans also included opening a second farmers market to young mothers who utilize the USDA's WIC program and seniors who use vouchers through the USDA's Seniors Farmers Market Nutrition Program.
"It impacts the young WIC mother with a couple of kids who was hoping to come to market — that we already started advertising — to purchase produce, who is on a limited budget in these strained economic times," Henry said.
Henry said she learned more about DEI when a disabled community member approached her about tools to make the community garden beds more accessible.
"I wasn't thinking about that because I am an able-bodied woman," she said. "... Now, it's on my list of things to purchase. That, to me, is what diversity, equity and inclusion is all about."
Henry said the Ivanhoe Neighborhood Council's grant proposal also included initiatives to support local farmers of color.
"I think it's important to support producers, including Black and brown producers who may have different barriers, again, to food production and to local consumers," she said.
Born and raised in the Ivanhoe neighborhood, Henry understands the community and says its members are impacted by barriers to local, healthy food.
"One of the things that we do here — to not just address the health piece but the barriers to good food — is to connect people to local food," she said.
The Ivanhoe Neighborhood Council's farmers market was established around 2012. Henry said it began with about 10 to 15 vendors and has since grown to 30 to 40. It's held on the second Saturday of every month between June and September; the council was hoping to expand its services to May through October.
In the wake of the funding termination, Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas said the city will work with the Ivanhoe Neighborhood Council to see where it can offer support.
"This is not some random luxury, this is food, this is food for the people in the urban core of our city," Lucas said.
The Ivanhoe Neighborhood Council is looking for volunteers and donations; it says it hopes it can continue the expansion of its farmers market despite the termination of its grant.
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KSHB 41 reporter Lily O’Shea Becker covers Franklin and Douglas counties in Kansas. Share your story idea with Lily.