Across the country, and often within just miles of where Michele’s Granola products are sold at popular grocery chains, there are neighborhoods whose residents do not have access to reliable or affordable sources of healthy foods. All of our 2023 Give One for Good Food grantees are working to reduce food insecurity in innovative ways, and featured grantee, Kanbe’s Markets, is taking an especially inclusive approach to reducing food insecurity in Kansas City, Missouri, rooted in redirecting food waste, giving access to fresh fruits and vegetables, and empowering people to make healthy choices.
Where it all began
Back in 2016, a group of concerned Kansas City citizens founded Kanbe’s to bring fresh produce to food deserts, specifically on the east side of the city’s racially-dividing line of Troost Avenue. As the organization’s CEO Maxfield Kaniger explains, “Kanbe’s Markets exists to fix a fixable problem.” While there is plenty of fresh food to go around, it often doesn’t get to low-income communities and BIPOC communities are disproportionately affected. So they tapped into the existing infrastructure of neighborhood corners stores, gas stations and bodegas, and established a distribution network of local farmers and food wholesalers to supply them with fresh fruits and vegetables at affordable prices for their existing base of customers.
Feeding Kansas City today
In 2023, Kanbe’s has expanded their produce delivery to 50 such points of sale, known as Healthy Corner Stores (HCS). Their innovative food delivery system aims to create lasting change by empowering individuals to make healthy choices by providing them with fresh, affordable options, while also supporting the local business community and reducing food waste. This year alone, Kanbe’s will save 500,000 lbs of fruits and vegetables, recirculating them in our food system and nourishing more than 250,000 Kansas City residents.
Everyone deserves good food
Like the team at Kanbe’s, we believe that everyone deserves good food. Through our Give One for Good Food charitable giving program, we are working to reduce inequities in our food system by supporting organizations that redistribute the supply of fresh, healthy foods to communities in need, and empower people to make healthy choices. Our recent $5,000 grant to Kanbe’s has supported the produce purchases and delivery costs for 2 Healthy Corner Stores as they expanded the HCS footprint by 9 additional stores to a total of 50 in 2023.
Thank you for supporting organizations like Kanbe’s through your purchase of Michele’s Granola. According to their Director of External Affairs, Casey Claps, in response to their Give One grant award, “together we are delivering food justice, one neighborhood at a time.”
Photo credit: Kanbe's Market