The Local Food and Farm Task Force was established by SB 286 and passed by the Kansas Legislature in 2014. The task force met to prepare a local food and farm report containing policy and funding recommendations for expanding and supporting local food systems.

The Local Food and Farm Task Force was composed of:

• Three members appointed by the Governor, including the chairperson of the task force.
• One member representing the Kansas Department of Agriculture appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture.
• One member representing the Kansas State University extension systems and agriculture research programs appointed by the Dean of the College of Agriculture of Kansas State University.
• One member of the House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources appointed by the chairperson of the House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources and one member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture appointed by the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture. The legislative members were from different political parties. 

The charge of the task force was to:

• Identify financial opportunities, technical support and training necessary for local and specialty crop production.
• Identify strategies and funding needs to make fresh and affordable locally grown foods more accessible.
• Identify factors affecting affordability and profitability of locally grown foods.
• Identify existing local food infrastructures for processing, storing and distributing food and recommendations for potential expansion.
• Identify strategies for encouragement of farmers' markets, roadside markets and local grocery stores in unserved and underserved areas. 

Under the original task force, presenters from 17 institutions/organizations provided information for consideration, and 43 task force guests provided feedback and engaged in dialogue. In total, the task force met nine times in various locations across Kansas to gather information and make recommendations via the Local Food and Farm Task Force legislative report dated December 2015 which can be viewed here.

SB 314 re-established the Local Food and Farm Task Force, which sunset on December 31, 2015, and established a new sunset date of July 1, 2017. Continuing work, the task force met an additional five times hearing from eight presenting units including feedback from 23 guests. The December 2016 legislative report can be viewed here.