Policy, People and Purpose
For Dustin Kohn, a graduate student in horticulture and natural resources at Kansas State University Olathe, studying plants isn’t just about what happens in the soil. It’s about systems, sustainability and sparking change.
“Watching something grow from a small seed to something greater is one of the coolest things ever — and I get to be a part of making that experience accessible to everyone,” Kohn said.
Kohn grew up in a rural community, where agriculture was part of everyday life.
“Everyone I grew up with knew where their food came from,” he said. “You only had to drive five or 10 minutes to be surrounded by fields growing food for the world.”
But he wanted to see things from the opposite perspective — not rows of corn under open skies, but tomatoes grown on rooftops, leafy greens sprouting in shipping containers and policies that shape access to fresh produce in cities.
That curiosity led him to the urban food systems program at K-State Olathe, which offers a unique blend of agriculture, public policy, community design and social impact.
“It’s mind-blowing to see how people grow food in cities to get the freshest product possible,” Kohn said. “When you start looking deeper at everything it takes to get food from farm to table, it’s not just growing. It’s housing. It’s zoning. It’s education. It’s transportation. It’s all connected. That’s what I find so inspiring.”
Kohn’s thesis focuses on food system resiliency across the Kansas City metro area. With guidance from faculty mentors, he’s using a tool called CARAT, the Community and Agriculture Resilience Audit Tool, to evaluate the resources nonprofits, corporations and government agencies in Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri, have available.
The tool measures the resources available in a food system via its 101 indicators to determine possible next steps to increase community resiliency and create a more equitable food system. The goal: make these findings accessible so that farmers, policymakers and community leaders can take strategic, data-informed action.
“People want a connection to their food,” Kohn said. “They want to know it’s fresh, where it came from and they want to know it’s going to be there. Assessments like this help us make sure that happens and that everyone is at the table, literally and figuratively.”
Kohn credits K-State Olathe’s faculty with encouraging his growth not just as a student, but as a leader. “The professors and faculty here genuinely want to see us succeed,” he said. “They want our research to come to life.”
He first considered graduate school in fall 2023, intrigued by the opportunity to dive deeper into horticulture and explore how food systems could evolve to meet the needs of a changing world. Now, he’s thriving in a program that allows him to blend hands-on agricultural knowledge with a growing interest in advocacy and community planning.
One of the biggest surprises from his research?
“In rural areas, you don’t have to think much about zoning. The land has been zoned for agriculture for generations,” he said. “But in cities, it’s the opposite. You have to figure out which spaces can or should be re-zoned to allow food production. The number of barriers to entry is high and that’s why urban ag is gaining so much momentum. People want to change that.”
That mix of policy, people and purpose is fueling Kohn’s next steps. He’s not sure whether he’ll pursue a Ph.D., public policy work or research and extension but he knows it will center on teaching others and creating change.
“My master’s really opened my eyes to all the areas I could grow into,” he said. “Whatever I choose, it’ll involve helping others understand these systems and how they can make them better.”
For Kohn, horticulture started with his grandmother, who kept a large garden and shared it with her family.
“Helping her in the garden is what I credit for my start and for my appreciation for what we can grow and feed ourselves,” he said.
Now, he’s carrying that passion into the city, armed with tools, knowledge and a community of supporters.
“So many people want to feed their communities, and they want urban ag to succeed,” he said. “With this many people behind it, it has to.”