Travel support available for Kansans attending the National Rural Grocery Summit
Travel assistance is available for Kansans who wish to attend the 2024 National Rural Grocery Summit in Montgomery, Alabama, June 24-25. (Photo: Getty Images, Unsplash)
MANHATTAN, Kan. – A Kansas State University program that helps support locally owned rural grocery stores announced that travel support is available to help Kansans attend the National Rural Grocery Summit this summer.
Erica Blair, program manager for K-State Research and Extension’s Rural Grocery Initiative, said this is the first time the summit has been held outside of Kansas. The Rural Grocery Initiative will co-host the event June 24-25 in Montgomery, Alabama, with the Hunger Solutions Institute at Auburn University.
“The summit is an opportunity for Kansans to learn directly from others across the country who are developing innovative solutions to improve food access and sustain independent grocers,” Blair said. “Participants can take these ideas home and start implementing them in their own local stores and rural communities.”
Blair added that the summit is “an opportunity to form lasting connections with like-minded individuals who care deeply about food access in rural areas.”
Topics include best practices for sustaining rural grocery stores; innovative food access solutions; financing opportunities; community involvement; local supply; and more.
“Rural Kansas communities face many unique challenges, including access to food,” said Rial Carver, program leader for the Rural Grocery Initiative. “Locally-owned supermarkets provide critical access to healthy, affordable food options, but face major challenges with razor-thin profit margins and fierce competition. Unfortunately, like much of the country, we have seen a decline in the number of locally owned grocery stores in Kansas. This makes the summit even more important for merchant participation.”
Registration for the National Rural Grocery Summit is available online.
For information about travel support or donating to help others participate in this year’s National Rural Grocery Summit, interested individuals should contact the Rural Grocery Initiative team at rgi@ksu.edu.
More information about K-State Research and Extension’s Rural Grocery Initiative is available online.
— Pat Melgares, K-State Research and Extension News Service
