K-State Extension - Rural Grocery Initiative

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K-State Extension - Rural Grocery Initiative RGI aims to sustain locally-owned rural groceries to enhance community vitality & access to healthy food.

Welcome to the official Kansas State University Rural Grocery Initiative Facebook account! We encourage thoughtful discussion and interaction relevant to the purpose of the page. The purpose of Kansas State University social media pages is limited to focusing on the university's mission, goals, and programs. Content must be relevant to the topic discussed, relevant to this particular page, and to the point. Content that is excessively long or repetitive is subject to removal. Content that is profane, threatening, obscene, a violation of intellectual property rights or privacy laws, creating a security or privacy risk, spam, defamatory, infringing on another person's rights, commercial advertising by a third party, otherwise violates local, county, state or federal laws, or incites or solicits illegal conduct or violence, is prohibited. By posting content to the site, you represent that you own or otherwise have all the rights necessary to lawfully use that content and/or that the use of the content is permitted by fair use, as applicable. The university reserves the right to remove any material for nonconformity with this policy. Users acknowledge that the security of the site cannot be guaranteed, that use of the site is voluntary, and assume the risks associated with such use, releasing and holding harmless the university from any and all claims related thereto. The university does not necessarily endorse, support, agree with, or verify the validity of the content shared on its social media sites by users. The appearance of comments, external hyperlinks, or any information contained within "follows", "likes", "retweets" and similar actions on social media pages do not necessarily constitute endorsement or support by the university. If you have questions, please contact [email protected].

Looking to add to your professional development plan for 2027? Registration is now open for the spring 2027 offering of ...
10/15/2026

Looking to add to your professional development plan for 2027? Registration is now open for the spring 2027 offering of our Rural Grocery Transition Specialist Program!

This program is designed to train and deploy Extension professionals, economic developers, and other resource providers to walk alongside rural grocers in their business transition journeys. We're hosting a free information session on November 6th at 11:30 AM Central Time to share:
⭐ How the program works,
⭐ What you'll gain, and
⭐ How you can become part of a growing national network!

Register for the Zoom link here: https://ksu.zoom.us/meeting/register/azcSKKNhRryDbI3-xfB2fA

10/14/2026

Congratulations to Axtell Community Grocery for being recognized as the North Central Regional Award Winner in the Retail/Services category! 🎉 Way to "shoot for the stars" in all that you do, Axtell Community Grocery!

10/05/2026

The Survey of Rural Challenges is open for rural and small-town people to answer online at https://saveyour.town/survey2026. This survey is for rural people to share their challenges and assets. Becky McCray and Deb Brown, co-founders of Saveyour.town, have been asking for and listening to rural challenges since 2015.

“We use the results to create practical steps that help you shape a better future for your town. Because you tell us what topics rural people most want help with, your responses also get shared out to others who work with rural communities and in articles and media stories,” said Becky McCray, cofounder of SaveYour.Town.

The survey will collect voluntary responses online at https://saveyour.town/survey2026 until October 31, 2026. The survey is open to rural people globally: USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or any other country. Anyone who lives or works in small towns can answer.

What small town people see as their biggest challenges, and what topics rural people most want help with

Want to play a role in keeping rural grocery stores open?Registration is open now for the spring 2027 offering of our Ru...
10/01/2026

Want to play a role in keeping rural grocery stores open?

Registration is open now for the spring 2027 offering of our Rural Grocery Transition Specialist Program, a 13-week course designed to train and deploy resource providers across the country to walk alongside rural grocers in their business transition journey to help ensure that rural communities maintain access to healthy food. Learn more and register here: https://ruralgrocery.org/specialist/

If you're not sure yet whether this program is the right fit for you, join us for a free information session on November 6th at 11:30 AM Central Time to learn how the program works, what you'll gain, and how you can become part of a growing national network of trained specialists already representing 19 states across the country. Register here for the information session link: https://ksu.zoom.us/meeting/register/azcSKKNhRryDbI3-xfB2fA

Sara and Jay Shivers own and operate Salt Creek Farm south of Eureka, Kansas (pop. 2,223). In addition to raising cattle...
09/30/2026

Sara and Jay Shivers own and operate Salt Creek Farm south of Eureka, Kansas (pop. 2,223). In addition to raising cattle, they also own and operate Salt Creek Market in Eureka, a rural grocery store where they have been selling their own products as well as other locally-sourced goods since November 2022. They have been in their current 5,000 square foot location since 2025. Read highlights from our conversation with Sara to learn more about this month's rural grocery spotlight: https://www.ruralgrocery.org/learn/rural-grocery-spotlight/salt-creek-market.html

Have an idea for a project that will expand healthy food access at the retail level in your community? Need support gett...
09/25/2026

Have an idea for a project that will expand healthy food access at the retail level in your community? Need support getting your project from an idea to the next stage?

Today, September 25th, is the deadline to apply for the Kansas Healthy Food Initiative's Predevelopment Technical Assistance Grant which can help provide that support!

These grants can help move projects that are still in the early concept or predevelopment stages forward by supporting early stage activities such as market or feasibility research, architectural design assistance or site planning, community assessments and engagement, business planning, and legal counsel.

⏰ Applications are due today by 11:59 PM Central Time.

Learn more and access the application here: https://kansashealthyfood.org/programdetails/assistance/

Congratulations to Mulholland Grocery on being honored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce! You can read more about the stor...
09/14/2026

Congratulations to Mulholland Grocery on being honored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce! You can read more about the store in our rural grocery spotlight article here: https://www.ruralgrocery.org/learn/rural-grocery-spotlight/mulholland-grocery.html.

Big news from 409 Main.

Mulholland Grocery has been named to the 2026 U.S. Chamber of Commerce CO—100 — one of America's Top 100 Small Businesses.

This store has served Malvern since 1875. We lost it to the fire in 2021 and got the doors back open in December 2024. This honor belongs to our crew, our customers, and this whole town — we wouldn't be here without you.

Thank you, Malvern.

Check out this exciting new webinar series being offered by the Kansas Sampler Foundation this fall to become equipped w...
09/03/2026

Check out this exciting new webinar series being offered by the Kansas Sampler Foundation this fall to become equipped with the tools to create welcoming, accurate, and engaging "digital front doors." Participants will be eligible to apply for $250 micro-grants to help put new ideas learned during the webinar series into practice.

This fall, we’re teaming up with Kansas Spanish Speakers and JenRus Marketing for a FREE webinar series featuring practical ways to make your online presence welcoming, accurate and easy to find.

We’ll cover simple digital tools, authentic marketing, welcoming diverse audiences, collaborating with neighboring organizations and businesses, and bringing the whole community along.

And because learning is better when you can put it into action, participants will be eligible to apply for $250 microgrants when the series has concluded.

Choose the webinars that are most relevant to your organization, business or community work. Learn more and register at
https://kansassampler.org/RuralDigitalFrontDoorTraining

Check out the graphic or link for the full lineup!

09/02/2026

Are you organizing a startup food co-op and looking for support as you work towards opening a cooperatively owned brick-and-mortar grocery store? If so, the Food Co-op Initiative's free Peer Learning Groups may be an excellent fit for you! Applications are open now for their 2027 Peer Learning Groups. Learn more and apply by September 20th here: https://fci.coop/events/peer-groups/

Twice a year, the K-State Extension Community Food Systems team publishes the "Kansas Food First" magazine to showcase t...
08/20/2026

Twice a year, the K-State Extension Community Food Systems team publishes the "Kansas Food First" magazine to showcase the inspiring success stories and hardworking food businesses thriving across Kansas. In every issue, you'll find stories of perseverance, ingenuity, and collaboration, showing the power of local food to bring people together and uplift entire communities. The latest issue features a story about our work to build a national network to support the sea change in America's rural grocery store ownership on page 7. Check it out here: https://issuu.com/douglas-county-extension/docs/kansas_food_first_-_summer_fall_2026/7

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Manhattan, KS
66506

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

(785) 532-6868

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