The SC Green Team and Southwestern College will welcome Leah Dannar-Garcia, owner of Firefly Farm, to campus to discuss the benefits of growing our own foods.  The event is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 16, beginning at 11 a.m., in the Richardson Performing Arts Center.  There is no admission charge and the public is invited to attend.

 Dannar-Garcia is the founder of the farm, which is located just east of Wichita.

According to Sue Webb, Green Team Southwestern director, their motto “food is art; food is medicine; food is social justice” will be a central theme of the talk. Webb hopes for community members, along with Southwestern College students, faculty, and staff to join for the presentation and discussion.

“Having Leah visit campus and discuss her business fits right into this year’s Green Team efforts,” Webb says.  “The team was granted a small piece of campus to start a garden; we intend to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to the campus community. Learning from Leah is going to help us make the most of the SC garden.”

The specialty crop, micro-farm features local, organically-grown fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers. Leah Dannar-Garcia, founder, launched Firefly Farms in 2015 and RISE Farms in 2021.

RISE Farms is Wichita’s first roof-top garden and is a 15,000-square-foot urban farm atop Fidelity Bank’s RISE Car Park. RISE Farms supplies area restaurants with fresh, local ingredients while it also lessens the urban heat island effect, curbs energy costs, and prevents excess storm water run-off. Anyone interested in knowing more can visit fireflyfarmwichita.com.