Lionberry at the Kansas State Capitol

Lionberry recently celebrated Ag Day at the Kansas State Capitol. We talked about planting Elderberry and our quest to get Kansas on the map as a top producer of Elderberry! We took samples of our Elderberry SIPS and Lionberry Restorative Refreshers! And, of course, we talked about our new home at the Olathe K-State Food Innovation Accelerator!!! And a big shout out to KDA inspectors…the smartest ones in any room!

Local value-added products aren’t cute. They’re insurance.

Lionberry 's Weekly Delusion and Re-illusion Update.

People act like small batch is a hobby.

Nope.

Every bottle from a small farmer is a value-added product inside a value food chain.

That chain is made of humans, not container ships.

If global trade gets tariffed to death, or the truckers strike, or a war kicks off, or a fuel shortage hits, or a natural disaster…guess what?

Walmart will not be driving to Thailand for pineapple juice.

Local food is the only thing that can actually disrupt the global supply chain — in a good way.

And here’s the delusion:

Everyone thinks “we’ll connect with the local farmers when we need them.”

Nope.

If the shelves go empty, it’s already too late.

Now is the time to get the relationships built. The value chain in motion. 

Now is the time to slot locals in the stores — even if it’s as “novelty items” at first on a local farm shelf.

Because when the global pipeline hiccups?

The people who will actually feed your region

aren’t the ones with the biggest warehouses.

Shop local or… we’ll be learning how to season cardboard and call it rustic.