Open for Business with Katie Jantzen, West End Farm (June 8, 2021)

Katie Jantzen founded West End Farm in 2017 on part of her family's farm near Plymouth, NE. She raises 47 different types of vegetables, berries, melons, and herbs, and also sells honey, jam, and baked goods. West End Farm is currently made up of approximately 1/2 acre in vegetable production including a newly-constructed high tunnel, a small berry patch, and 10 honeybee hives. The main marketing venue for her crops is the farm's CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program, in which customers sign up for a produce subscription and receive a weekly box of fresh vegetables all season long. She also sells her products at the Beatrice Farmers Market and to a couple of wholesale accounts. Katie's interest in local food has been influenced by a range of experiences including growing up on a dairy farm, studying environmental science in college, managing a community gardening program for a food pantry, and working on CSA farms in several states. When not working on the farm or at her town job, Katie is also involved in a variety of food/agriculture organizations including the Southeast Nebraska Food Partners food coalition, Nebraska Food Council, Nebraska Farmers Union, Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society, and Women in Local Food and Farming, as well as several research projects with the Center for Rural Affairs.