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They sat around a firepit at Confluence Farms north of Florissant, discussing shortages of fresh food in North County, where people in some neighborhoods rely on processed food sold in corner stores.

Gibron Jones, a co-partner at Confluence, organized the meeting at the request of Councilwoman Shalonda Webb. The farmers in attendance talked about expanding operations and growing more food to give away, if they could secure funding.

Webb told the farmers the county had millions to spend on programs addressing food shortages.

But the discussion, according to farmers in attendance, included another aspect: Webb and Janett Lewis, founder of Rustic Roots Sanctuary urban farm, talked about whether the project could avoid the county’s competitive bidding process.

“Obviously we’re thinking all this is straightforward and legal,� Jones said. “I actually got excited.�

Over the next six months, Webb and Lewis would put together a plan to send $3.2 million in taxpayer money to Rustic Roots. The plan called for Lewis to distribute some of the money to five other farms, though Rustic Roots would keep the majority. It would also circumvent the county’s bidding process.

The County Council approved the plan unanimously on April 15.

It has since unraveled amid objections from some of the farmers involved and a veto by County Executive Sam Page, who cited the lack of bidding.

Now, the farmers are talking in more detail about the genesis of the program, the problems they ran into and the relationships between the parties.

They have pointed to the fact that Lewis, of Rustic Roots, is close friends with a former top aide of Webb, the councilwoman who championed the program. They say the program was never well thought-out. When they pushed for details, they said, Lewis couldn’t provide them.

Farmers and council members have also raised questions about the grant money involved. Lewis claimed the project could avoid bidding because the county money would match other grants Rustic Roots had won. But the grants, documents now show, aren’t matches for the county cash. And some haven’t even been awarded yet.

After his veto, Page said he would ask the council to approve a competitive bidding process where any qualified organization could submit a proposal. Webb called Page’s veto a “setback� and declared, “It is not the end.�

For Jones, of Confluence Farms, the idea of working with Rustic Roots and other farmers seemed promising. But he didn’t understand how the project could bypass a competitive bid, and he raised the question at the hilltop meeting.

“I said, ‘OK, how?’� Jones told the Post-Dispatch. “That’s when Shalonda said she had to go back and look to see what the process is.�

The meeting lasted about an hour. The group didn’t have another meeting until January, Jones said, this time at Rustic Roots, an 8-acre farm in Spanish Lake.

At the second meeting, Lewis unveiled a presentation outlining her plans to spend the money, according to Jones. She wanted to build a shared facility where farmers could store and process food. Talk of matching grants came up. And other farmers were going to come on board, splitting some of the money to boost their operations.

Lewis began asking the farmers to sign agreements and speak in favor of the plan at County Council meetings.

“It was just show up and do this and just take the money,� Jones said. “I started to realize something wasn’t right.�

Webb declined to comment for this story, and Lewis didn’t respond to a request for comment.

‘Absolutely a match’

In March, as Lewis had asked, farmers began showing up to speak at council meetings, even before Webb introduced her legislation.

On March 4, Dail Chambers, owner of gardens she collectively calls Coahoma Orchards, spoke about the importance of fresh food. Vincent Lang, who said he runs a farm called Odds & Ends in North County, talked about money the county had set aside from federal pandemic relief funds for addressing food shortages.

“We look forward to building a partnership with the county to craft a comprehensive plan that delivers the transformative change to food insecurity,� Lang said.

A week later, Lewis spoke before the council. She said she envisioned “a strong local food hub, one that teaches sustainable agriculture, promotes holistic health and provides healing opportunities for individuals and community.�

“We have been actively working with Councilwoman Webb to scale our operations,� Lewis said.

On March 18, Webb introduced legislation at the County Council meeting to send the money to Rustic Roots. That night, Lewis handed a copy of a six-page proposal to the council clerk. The main points: The money would create an agri-village for training aspiring farmers. It would build a shared cold-storage and food-prep facility. It would pay for North County farmers to expand operations.

And the county money would “match� grants Rustic Roots had already received from the state and a private foundation, Lewis said.

On April 14, the Post-Dispatch reported on uncertainties surrounding the plan. Page’s chief administrative officer, Kyle Klemp, said in an interview that anytime the county sends money to a private entity, the project needs to go to bid.

But Lewis told the other farmers in a text thread later that day that the county money was a “matching grant� — a term that typically means one grant is required to get another. And as a matching grant, Lewis texted, it was “not subject to RFP,� meaning the county wasn’t required to solicit competitive requests-for-proposals for the project.

“Kyle Klemp and Sam Page’s office are trying to spin the facts to sow doubt,� Lewis wrote in the texts.

The county money, she said in the text, would match $1.2 million the Missouri Department of Agriculture and the Missouri Foundation for Health had already committed to Rustic Roots.

But records show that those grants either didn’t require a county match — or hadn’t been funded.

Last year, Rustic Roots asked the state for $749,871 from a federal grant program to strengthen local food systems.

In a letter sent to Rustic Roots last summer, the state Department of Agriculture told Lewis that legislators hadn’t fully funded that program. Instead, the department offered 30% of the original amount, or $224,961. Even that amount, the state confirmed Friday, hadn’t received final approval.

The Missouri Foundation for Health also tentatively awarded Rustic Roots a $250,000 grant. That money was a match for the state funds, not the county money, and it’s contingent on the state funds, according to foundation spokesperson Molly Crisp.

Only one grant Lewis listed — a two-year, $210,000 grant from the foundation last year for a “food justice initiative� — had actually been secured.

On April 15, council members questioned Lewis at a committee meeting. Councilman Mark Harder, a Republican from Ballwin, asked Lewis about the grants.

“Do you see this $3.2 (million) as more of a match, or will this be operating funds?� Harder asked.

“Absolutely a match,� Lewis responded.

“If this money did not come through,� Harder continued, “then does that mean the other grants from the state would fall through as well?�

“I’ve still got my money from all the other funders,� Lewis said.

‘She doesn’t need me’

Three farmers who dropped out of the program also questioned a connection between Lewis and Webb.

Lewis is close friends with Webb’s former legislative assistant, Shonte Harmon-Young.

Harmon-Young began working as an aide for Webb in 2021, according to the . Aides coordinate meetings, communicate with constituents and do research for legislation.

Addressing food shortages was at the top of their agenda, Webb has said. She has also said that she had worked with Lewis on addressing a lack of fresh food in parts of the county.

And, for years, Lewis and Harmon-Young have shown support for each other’s businesses.

Lewis has repeatedly posted on social media in support of a business Harmon-Young owns, called Queso Whaat!?!, which sells quesadillas. Last fall, Harmon-Young posted a picture of Lewis wearing a “Queso Whaat!?!� T-shirt.

And Harmon-Young has supported Rustic Roots and Lewis: In December 2024, Harmon-Young asked friends on Facebook for donations to support the nonprofit. In October, she thanked Lewis for letting her store her truck at Lewis’ place. And in April, Harmon-Young pushed followers to go the council meeting to support Lewis’ food project efforts.

On Dec. 28 — not long after the meeting on the hill with the farmers — Harmon-Young thanked her circle of friends for “keeping me uplifted� as she worked to open a brick-and-mortar store in St. Charles to sell her food. “I’m running low on funds to get this built,� Harmon-Young said on Facebook. “Suddenly, these influxes of cash come in as a gift. Just, thank y’all for believing in me.�

Lewis commented on the post with hearts.

Shortly after, Lewis and Harmon-Young spent New Year’s Eve together, according to a social media post. And in late January, Harmon-Young and Lewis traveled to Tulum, a coastal town in Mexico known for its beaches and Mayan ruins.

“A friendship that has turned into a family as she has supported my dream more than I could have ever imagined or asked for,� Harmon-Young wrote on Facebook about Lewis. “And I thank her from the bottom of my heart.�

In an interview on Thursday, Harmon-Young said family members gave her money for her restaurant, but not Lewis.

“We’re not those kinds of friends,� Harmon-Young said.

Harmon-Young denied that her friendship with Lewis had anything “to do with Shalonda wanting to feed people in North County. And it has nothing to do with Janett because Janett does great work, and she gets all this money from elsewhere. She doesn’t need me anyway.�

Webb had also denied that the friendship of Lewis and Harmon-Young influenced her actions on the food program.

‘Demeanor has shifted’

On April 19, four days after the council voted for the food program, the farmers met to discuss next steps at the home of Chambers, the Coahoma Orchards owner. They sat in a circle, with Chambers leading the discussion.

Those in attendance spent an hour talking about their backgrounds and how they felt about the project, according to a recording of the meeting Jones, the Confluence Farms co-partner, ran through a transcription application.

Then Lewis outlined the $3.2 million budget for her three-point plan: $1.1 million for the agri-village, including buying at least 3 acres of land; $900,000 for a shared-use facility for food preparation; and $291,000 in “indirect costs.� The other farmers would get $750,000 split among five farms. And Rustic Roots would receive another $159,000 for “capacity help.�

“Secured match funding is $1.2 million,� Lewis said. “And that is the reason that we were able to get this grant, because it’s matching funds.�

Chambers stopped Lewis.

“Let’s pause there,� Chambers said. “That was a lot to go through. How many folks in the room already saw the budget? OK, no one. Can you, do you mind passing the package around?�

Lewis said she had shown it to them at the second meeting, the one at Rustic Roots. The farmers said they wanted to see a hard copy, as well as a digital version. Chambers said she noticed a change in Lewis.

“I’m concerned because even your whole demeanor has shifted in the past five minutes,� Chambers told her. “When we were at the point of dealing with group consensus and things, your shoulders were more relaxed. You were smiling more.�

“The plan was supposed to be beautiful and uplifting and help all of us,� Lewis replied, “and so I just want that energy to be connected to it, instead of this other thing that I’ve been feeling.�

The farmers began questioning how Lewis decided the amount of money each farm would get. Maybe they could split it evenly, one suggested.

“That’s not going to happen,� Lewis said.

For the next few moments, Chambers tried to cool tensions. But eventually, she asked:

“What do you mean that’s not going to happen?�

“It’s just I can’t go back from where the budget is,� Lewis said.

The meeting ended with Jones, of Confluence, agreeing to submit a counter-proposal. They planned to take a vote on whose proposal was best within a few days.

But two days later, on April 22, Jones, Chambers and Tyrean Lewis, one of the farmers at that first meeting on the hilltop, announced they were dropping out of the program. They said they had lost faith in Rustic Roots. There were too many red flags.

Lewis and Webb responded by lambasting the farmers who dropped out. The farmers didn’t have the credentials needed to participate in the program, Lewis and Webb said, such as insurance, soil testing and proof of land ownership or lease agreements.

The farmers were furious. All three said the accusations were false, and that they had never been asked for those documents.

Finally, this past Tuesday, Page announced his veto of the program. He pinned his decision on the fact there was no competitive bidding process.

“The council and I are aligned on the belief that eliminating disparities should be a priority for ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County, but how we get there is where we have a difference,â€� Page said in a news conference. “Simply put, using public funds for a private purpose is prohibited by the Missouri Constitution.â€�