South Side Farms aims for generational change in South Cape Girardeau

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KBSI) – Jimmy Wilferth said he and others realized the short-term fixes were not working in South Cape Girardeau, and it was time for long-term change.  

“It’s an ancient Chinese proverb: ‘Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime, give a man a fish, and you feed him for the day.’ We had been giving a man a fish, and it was time to teach a man how to fish.” 

And so, the wheels began to turn on South Side Farms, and as the months turned into years, the feedback Wilferth and his team gathered turned into plans. 

“We’re extremely passionate about listening to people first, and then helping them get where they need to go, and not telling people where we think they need to go or how they need to live,” he said.

When complete, the 16-acre facility will have space for agricultural production, childcare, supportive housing units, and more. 

Wilferth and Farm Manager Jake Smith said this project is a labor of love. 

“This has taken a long time planning,” Wilferth said. “It’s been a prayerful journey over the last three years because this is something that needs to be sustainable, something that needs to be generational.” 

“Day one, it starts with digging rocks out of a field with a pickax, you know, that’s just how it goes,” Smith said. “If you build anything that’s worthwhile, you’ve got to put the work in from day one, and that’s what I’m doing.” 

Wilferth is confident in this facility’s success. 

“I firmly believe two generations from now, this will be an operation, and it’ll be thriving, and instead of people talking about the generational cycle of poverty, we’re going to be talking about the generational cycle of success in South Cape,” he said.

While Wilferth is the executive director, there is an interim tag in front of it because he said, in the future, the goal is for somebody from South Cape to take his place.