Before we harvest, we must plant.

Real Kansans - Fed Up

A political yard sign set in a garden background, The sign has a sunflower on a blue background with large caption that says "Real Kansans. Real Voters. Real Fed Up." Smaller text indicates that Salina Indivisible prepared the sign. — Nifty yard signs, courtesy of Salina Indivisible. Food and Farm Caucus working to get them distributed around Kansas.

How many of you have seen the great new billboard on I-70 near Salina? "Real Kansas, Real Voters, Real Fed Up". It is sponsored by Salina Indivisible and PUSH PAC. They also have a yard sign version.

To order yours, contact Salina Indivisible at salinaindivisible@gmail.com. As a volunteer organization, they are asking for a donation of at least $10 per sign. Accepted methods of donating are cash or checks made out to PUSH PAC and mailed to an address to be provided at the time of your request or which can be made via PayPal at this link.

There are also local hubs of organizations with their own small stash of signs that might be available locally —- Salina Indivisible will help guide you to the nearest hub.

Food and Farm Caucus is doing our part to help with the distribution network for this effort. If you can be part of the volunteer network for these signs or future efforts, let us know at the Food and Farm Caucus. (Ordering guide updated 6/8/25)

Seeking Candidates!

Kansas has long enjoyed the benefit of engaged, sensible people who lead in their local communities. Sadly, the mean-spirited and corrosive spirit of national politics is trying to seep in to every corner. Your community and school district needs you - a common-sense Democrat - to help hold the line. The filing deadline for nonpartisan elected community office is coming soon - noon on Monday, June 2nd. And those considering state office should also start early - 2026 is not far away.

The Kansas Democratic Party has a short interest form and training guides on their website for potential candidates, https://kansasdems.org/training-hub/

Prospective 2025 and 2026 candidates interested in food, farm and rural issues are also invited to reach out to the Food and Farm Caucus - we will help engage and answer questions.

Memorial Day, Monday May 26th

As Memorial Day approaches, we honor the men and women of the US Armed Forces who have given their life in service to the nation. We also remember our many loved ones who enriched and marked our lives. On this Memorial Day, we wish comfort to all those left behind and commit ourselves to continuing to build a community they would be proud of.

PBS has a long tradition of broadcasting the National Memorial Day Concert from Washington DC. The 2025 Concert is held tonight, Sunday May 25.

No Kings! Protests - June 14

Protests around the US will be happening Saturday, June 14th. In Kansas, there are plans for Topeka and other communities. Check in at Unyielding Kansas. Blue or on your other social media to stay engaged. RSVP for the main event in Topeka here: https://www.mobilize.us/indivisiblesjc/event/788261/

House Democrats “Fight Back Tour”

The Democrats of the Kansas House are hitting the road to help Kansans “Fight Back”. Stops planned through June in central Kansas include Topeka (5/29), Wichita (6/5), Newton (6/6), Hutchinson (6/20), Abilene (6/21); and more in western Kansas and Kansas City in August. https://www.kansashousedemocrats.com/fight-back-tour-2025

Events; Events; Events

Local County Parties and other progressive groups, like Indivisible and Leading Kansas, are hosting trainings, calling rallies and hosting town halls. Please visit our Calendar at Harvest Blue and the feed on Facebook "Unyielding Kansas. Blue" for cross posts of everything we can find. The Kansas Democratic Party is also updating their own website calendar (both one time events and ongoing meetings) with a number of state, County Party and allied-group events.

It's a lot - Zero in on the groups and initiatives that speak most to you.

The Big Ugly Budget Bill

Statement by Rep. Sharice Davids on the GOP Budget Bill passing the House, May 2025.

All three of our GOP representatives from Kansas voted to cut services and pander to the billionaires by voting for the GOP's Big Ugly Budget Bill. Our lone Democrat, Rep. Sharice Davids of the 3rd District, stood firm against it.

It goes now to the Senate, where at least some Republicans have expressed misgivings. Let's face it, Sen. Roger Marshall is full-MAGA and beyond salvation. Senator Moran is still trying to have his cake and eat it too --- but when push comes to shove we know he lacks stamina. Your continued support for Rep. Davids and pressure on Moran and Marshall is valuable --- but we must also be prepared make this ugly bill an albatross around their neck in 2026.

Write Your Own Federal Budget

Budgets should be based on real $$. But with this Big Ugly Budget Bill, the Republicans keep making up numbers. Face it, as everyday citizens, it can be hard to make sense of the competing claims. We recently came across this game/tool from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget that takes you through some of the real trade-offs we need to consider as a nation. The tool let's you decide how you would fix things. (Hint: cutting the National Weather Service and closing parks isn't it).The Committee will share results with Congress.

https://www.crfb.org/debtfixer

If you play, feel free to post your results and impressions in the comments of this post in the "Unyielding Kansas. Blue" Facebook group.

Our Kansas Democratic Platform!

The Kansas Democratic Party is due to update its platform in 2025 as part of the regular cycle. The Food and Farm Caucus is asking our members and other registered Democrats to chime in on the particular sections on Agriculture and Rural Communities. Please read through the current platform & consider sending feedback to our Caucus Platform Input Committee.

Newsletter & Connections

Welcome to the updated styling of our Food and Farm Caucus newsletter. The Caucus is a community of Kansas Democrats committed to building a strong future for our local farmers, food producers, food sector workers, and rural communities. We are also the proud sponsors of Harvest Blue, a communications channel for grassroots Kansas Democrats. We are working to elevate voices of hard working Kansas Democrats and independently minded citizens. Being engaged brings strength. We hope to publish this newsletter or similar about every 2 months - more when we have more to share. If you would like to be involved in the work of the Food and Farm Caucus, please let us know.

Plantings, May 2025