Food Factories & Farms: Watch Food Made in Kansas City

Kansas City is home to local farms, orchards, chocolate shops and factories where many delicious foods are produced right before your eyes.

Nothing says autumn quite like a nice glass of apple cider or a warm cider donut. You can watch as cider and donuts are made on a tour of the Louisburg Cider Mill (14730 Hwy. 68, Louisburg, KS, 913.837.5202, LouisburgCiderMill.com). Visitors watch the entire process as apples are washed, made into cider and bottled. Then some of the cider is used to make Louisburg’s famous apple cider donuts on site, and if you arrive in time, you can enjoy a fresh, warm one. Every autumn, the mill’s pumpkin patch, corn maze and annual CiderFest attract many visitors.

Another delicious locally-produced beverage can be found in beautiful glass bottles in the dairy section at your local store. Missouri’s own Shatto Milk Company (9406 MO-33, Osborn, MO, 816.930.3862, ShattoMilk.com) is a working dairy farm and milk bottling company selling many unique flavors of milk, including root beer, strawberry, orange crème, banana and traditional whole or chocolate milk. The Shatto family has farmed their land for more than 120 years, 70 of those as a dairy farm. The milk bottling company opened in 2003, and the brand new cheese making factory opened earlier this year. Families are invited to tour the farm, where they’ll enjoy petting calves, milking cows and meeting the famously happy herd. Watch through a window as milk is processed and bottled, then conclude your tour sampling new flavors of milk and cheese!

While we often associate cows and cheese, sheep’s milk also makes delicious gourmet cheeses. The

Green Dirt Farm (20363 Mt. Bethel Rd., Weston, MO, 816.386.2156, GreenDirtFarm.com) is a working sheep farm on the bluffs of the Missouri River Valley, offering educational tours unlike any other. Guests learn why grass is the best food for the 150 ewes on the farm, how important healthy soil is to the environment and what makes the cheese so good. Visitors also learn about pasture rotation while watching the dairy sheep graze on the hills. The highlights of the tour, though, are the final steps: watching as the sheep are milked, the cheese is made in the kitchen and tasting samples! Green Dirt Farm is one of only two sheep dairies in Missouri.

One of the most educational and delicious outings for food lovers is a visit to the Heartland Harvest Garden at Powell Gardens (Kingsville, MO, 816.697.2600, PowellGardens.org). Set on 12 acres, the Heartland Harvest Garden is the largest edible landscape in the United States. After a visit, children better understand where their food comes from and they enjoy sampling foods at the tasting stations, which are open during growing season. “On any given day, you're likely to find several things to try, from basics like strawberries to more unusual items like yard-long noodle beans,” Callen Zind, Powell’s marketing and events director, says. “With more than 2,000 types of food plants, we can almost guarantee there will be something to surprise you!”

You notice a building with an airplane mounted on the roof, and it stirs your curiosity. What could it be? That airplane has become the trademark of the Roasterie (1204 W. 27th St., Kansas City,MO, 816.931.4000, TheRoasterie.com), known for selling premier air-roasted coffee. The business offers one of the most entertaining free tours in town. Visitors watch as coffee goes from bean to brew. Call for reservations.

From the delicious aroma of warm chocolate to the tasty samples and beautiful artistry of fudge makers’ preparing handmade confections in copper kettles and forming it on marble slabs, Chip’s Chocolate Factory (in Crown Center, 816.421.0012, ChipsChocolateFactory.com) is a delight for all ages. Kansas City Fudge was originally developed by the Chip’s team more than 27 years ago. With a vision for entertaining and educating, the shop was designed for live demonstrations, which are offered daily. Visitors also can schedule a private tour for groups for a full experience in “Chocology” that includes tastings and souvenirs. Bonus Tip: Be sure to visit the special FREE exhibits for kids on Crown Center’s first floor or visit Kaleidoscope to complete your day!

Consider a two-hour road trip to Whiting, KS, where you can tour Schlaegel’s Homegrown Popcorn Factory (must call for tour information: 800.844.7494). Gary and Marian Schlaegel started raising popcorn on their farm nearly 30 years ago, now devoting 10 acres of crop ground to yellow and white popcorn each year. Their business sells 30 flavors of popcorn! Visitors learn how popcorn is grown, prepared and sold.

Bonus Outing: The Price Chopper grocery store at 151st & Metcalf is home to a potato chip machine! Homemade potato chips are fried and sold daily.