Home improvement shows offer viewers an often-picturesque look into the world of home renovation and design. Reality can be a different story.

One person’s junk is another person’s treasure, and at Nate’s Swap Shop 63rd Street Drive-In Flea Market in Kansas City, Missouri, there’s enough of both to make a pirate jealous.

The phone rang over the whine of Trey Yates' butter churn. The person calling was polite, but the message was devastating: Mountaineer Food Bank was ending Yates' butter contract, due to the ...