Travel assistance will be provided to Kansans who wish to attend the 2024 National Rural Grocery Summit on June 24 and 25 in Montgomery, Alabama. (Photo: Getty Images, Unsplash)
MANHATTAN, Kan. – A Kansas State University program that helps sustain locally owned rural grocery stores has travel support available to help Kansans attend this summer’s National Rural Grocery Summit It was announced that.
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-sponsor the event with Auburn University's Institute for Hunger Solutions on June 24-25 in Montgomery, Alabama.
“The summit is an opportunity for Kansans to learn directly from people across the country who are developing innovative solutions to improve food access and preserve independent grocers,” said Blair. . “Participants can take these ideas home and start implementing them in their local stores and rural communities.”
Prime Minister Blair added that the summit is “an opportunity to build lifelong connections with like-minded people who care deeply about rural food access.”
Topics include best practices for maintaining a rural grocery store; Innovative food access solutions. Funding Opportunities. community engagement; local sourcing; more.
“Rural communities in Kansas face many unique challenges, including access to food,” said Rial Carver, program leader for the Rural Grocery Initiative. “Locally-owned grocery stores are an important source of access to affordable and healthy food, but they face tough challenges with razor-thin profit margins and fierce competition. Unfortunately, many across the country Like the rest of the country, the number of locally owned grocery stores is declining in Kansas, which makes this summit even more important for grocers to participate.”
Registration for the National Rural Grocery Summit can be done online.
If you would like to inquire about travel support or make a donation to support other participants in this year's National Rural Grocery Summit, please contact Rural Grocery Initiative staff 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
