I Opened a Mercantile in Rural Nebraska
Two years ago, I moved back to my hometown in rural Nebraska. Main Street has remained largely unchanged over the years, but sadly the little grocery store was struggling. It […]
A Guide to HFFI FARE Fund for Food Access Projects
The Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) Food Access and Retail Expansion (FARE) Fund was established through funding from the American Rescue Plan Act and is designed to support healthy food […]
Case History: Faith in Place
Faith in Place empowers people of diverse faiths and spiritualities to be leaders in advancing environmental and racial justice, providing resources to educate, connect, and advocate for healthier communities. The […]
Innovative Rural Grocery Store Trends
Innovation in rural grocery stores is a story of community building. Small-town grocery stores are the heart of their communities, yet many struggle to compete with dollar stores, a shrinking […]
Co-op Grocery: A Social Justice Movement
Food co-ops are rooted in social justice movements, but they have experienced the most growth during periods of economic crisis. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a need for […]
Good Food Glossary: Food Co-op
“A co-operative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise” (Neighboring Food Co-ops) […]
Case History: Great Plains Food Bank Mobile Market
The Great Plains Food Bank serves every county in North Dakota as well as western Minnesota, working with community partners to efficiently secure and direct resources and eradicate hunger in […]
How Dollar Stores are Changing Downtown America
A year ago, we started work on a project for the Kansas-based Sunflower Foundation, in partnership with the Rural Grocery Initiative (RGI) at Kansas State University, to understand the challenges […]
Toolsite Spotlight (2 of 6): The Rural Grocery HubSizer®
A microblog series on the HubSizer® and MarketSizer® tools from New Venture Advisors. This week we’re digging into how to use the Rural Grocery HubSizer® tool. This tool was designed for […]
Rural Grocery Food Hubs: Our Findings, the Future and a Widget
A lot has happened since we first explored the idea of a rural grocery store housing a local food hub, almost two years ago! The concept is one we continue […]
