There's a Place for You at the Table.
Listen Locally. Grow Enterprise. Build Together.
Everything begins with food. Where we spend our food dollars shapes our local economy. Each purchase is an opportunity to discover and support the people growing, raising, and making food in our communities.
Project Pickle brings neighbors, local food producers, and local leaders together to explore how food moves through South Central Missouri and where opportunities exist. Every event features a Show-Me Local Food Tasting, showcasing seasonal foods from Missouri farmers and makers and the stories behind them.
Anyone who eats food belongs at this table.
SECOND MONDAYS
IN WRIGHT COUNTY
Registration is free. No commitment required.
Hartville Senior Citizens Center 350 S Glenn St, Hartville, MO 65667
2026: Nov 9, Dec 14
2027: Jan 11, Feb 8, Mar 8, Apr 12
Celebration: May 17, 2027
THREE SESSIONS
Join for One or Join for All. Open to Everyone.
Session #1 “Local Food Leader Meet-Up”
11 AM to Noon
Set the Conditions to Thrive Community members tell us what they need. Producers share what they're building and where they run into barriers. Local leaders help decide what we can connect, strengthen, and build together.
Gain a clearer picture of local food enterprise to influence community action planning. No title or experience needed.
Session #2 “Show-Me Local Food Tasting”
Noon to 1 PM
Discover the Power of Local Food Taste local food, discover what's available around you, and help us understand what would make buying local easier.
Create you own Local Food Guide and cultivate new connections to food produced in our region.
Session #3 “Local Food Producer Workshop”
1 PM - 3 PM
Grow Local Food Business You grow it, raise it, bake it, make it… or want to. Bring a product, idea, skill, or food business you want to grow. Collaborate with local food business mentors and coaches to explore what success looks like for you, what stands in your way, and what could help you take the next step to level up.
Build a Producer Pathway around where you are, where you want to go, and what you need next.
Ways to Register
Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2004031472080?aff=oddtdtcreator
Call or text (417) 462-6133
Sign up in person at the Hartville Senior Citizens Center, Wednesdays and Fridays, 10 AM to Noon
Email Team@GOTURSIX.org
Learn More
Community Kickoff: Wright County - Flipbook
From Cucumber to Pickle: Growing Producer Pathways for Local Market Enterprise in Missouri
Sponsor a Workshop. Support Local Producers.
Your sponsorship supports the local economy before anyone takes their first bite.
We use sponsorship dollars to purchase food directly from Missouri producers, paying them full price for their products. We don't ask producers to donate their work because their economic mobility is the point.
As our thank-you, we'll recognize your business on the Show-Me Local Food Tasting menu, on our website, at the workshop table, and at the May 17 Celebration.
LISTEN > CONVERSATION > ACTION
Every Project Pickle workshop helps us better understand how food moves through our communities, where opportunities exist, and what stands in the way.
What we learn from residents, producers, and community leaders will inform the forthcoming Wright County Local Food Action Plan, supported by Missouri EATs grant funding and private contributions.
Our goal is to turn local knowledge into practical actions that strengthen our food system and create opportunities for economic mobility.
From Cucumber to Pickle: We Bridge the Gap
Growing a cucumber is one thing. Turning it into a jar of pickles that can be sold is another. That journey reveals the challenges local producers face as they move from growing food to processing, packaging, and selling it.
GOTURSIX explored those challenges through conversations with South Central Missouri producers, a review of Missouri laws, and examples from other states. Our legislative research brief examines opportunities to make it easier for Missouri's small food businesses to develop value-added products while maintaining food safety. The goal is simple: help more Missourians turn local food into local income.
IN GRATITUDE
Good food brings people together.
Great partnerships help communities grow.
A special thank-you to Eccentricity Consulting, LLC, our first private sponsor to invest in Project Pickle's hands-on local food experience.
We're grateful to Springfield Community Gardens for introducing us to Show-Me Local Food Tastings and demonstrating how food can spark curiosity, conversation, and connection.
Thank you to Empower Missouri and the Missouri Rural Food Access Partnership (MRFAP) for connecting us with farmers, food advocates, community organizations, and leaders working to strengthen Missouri's food systems; and to New Growth for opening the door to Missouri's Food is Medicine Coalition.
Thank you to Missouri EATs, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, and University of Missouri Extension for supporting the community engagement, research, and education that helps move Project Pickle forward.
And to Wright County, our first Project Pickle workshop community, thank you for helping us put this model into practice. From Little Farm Association, to Baker Creek, Hartville Senior Citizens Center, to Hartville Chamber of Commerce, and the Wright County Health Department, to local food producers and community partners, your participation is helping us build an approach that can grow throughout South Central Missouri.