Rural Grocery Initiative

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

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We were excited to present Lori Capouch with our Grocery Champion of the Year Award at the 2026 National Rural Grocery S...
05/22/2026

We were excited to present Lori Capouch with our Grocery Champion of the Year Award at the 2026 National Rural Grocery Summit!

Her nominator wrote: "Lori’s work has directly strengthened rural grocery viability through leadership, coalition-building, and practical innovation grounded in the realities of rural communities. For more than 30 years, she has served as a behind-the-scenes cooperative development champion who travels to small towns to help address quality-of-life challenges—especially food access." You can learn more about Lori here: https://www.ruralgrocery.org/summit/awards/

Congratulations, Lori, and thank you for all you have done for rural grocers!

NDAREC & U of MN Extension Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships

It is hard to believe it has already been two weeks since we gathered for the 2026 National Rural Grocery Summit! Over 3...
05/21/2026

It is hard to believe it has already been two weeks since we gathered for the 2026 National Rural Grocery Summit! Over 300 attendees from 42 states, Washington, D.C., and Canada convened in Fargo to connect around strengthening rural grocery. With four keynotes, 24 breakout session presentations, an exhibitor fair, and four tours of innovative rural grocery and food access sites in North Dakota and Minnesota, attendees learned from each other about innovative models and strategies for strengthening healthy food retail in rural communities. View some snapshots from the event below and check out even more photos from the Summit here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/hjfDtt991iGKDS2B7
👇 Share your favorite Summit memory with us in the comments below!

U of MN Extension Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships & NDAREC

We were excited to present Emily and Kaden Roush, owners of Main Street Mercantile in Lebanon, Kansas, with our Rural Gr...
05/20/2026

We were excited to present Emily and Kaden Roush, owners of Main Street Mercantile in Lebanon, Kansas, with our Rural Grocer of the Year Award at the 2026 National Rural Grocery Summit!

Their nominator wrote: "Emily and Kaden Roush purchased the local grocery store in 2023 and utilized their creative community-building, grant writing, and fundraising skills to completely remodel and reopen the store in a small town of 181. Main Street Mercantile offers a full-service grocery store, including butcher counter, fresh produce, staple items, and an abundance of locally grown and processed meats. Emily and Kaden provide critical jobs for local residents and truly create a community feel in their store." You can learn more about them here: https://www.ruralgrocery.org/summit/awards/

Congratulations, Emily and Kaden, and thank you for all you do as rural grocers!

Thank you Co-op Partners Warehouse for partnering with us to nourish our National Rural Grocery Summit attendees. We kno...
05/07/2026

Thank you Co-op Partners Warehouse for partnering with us to nourish our National Rural Grocery Summit attendees. We know that attendees enjoyed getting a taste of the delicious products you carry!

Yesterday we held four pre-conference tours across Minnesota and North Dakota as part of the 2026 National Rural Grocery...
05/06/2026

Yesterday we held four pre-conference tours across Minnesota and North Dakota as part of the 2026 National Rural Grocery Summit! Check out these pictures from some of the attendees who visited innovative rural grocery and food access sites across the two states. We're so excited to be officially kicking the Summit off with our opening plenary session this morning!

📢 Grant Opportunity! The HFFI FARE Fund is Now Accepting Grant and Technical Assistance Applications.Are you working to ...
04/30/2026

📢 Grant Opportunity! The HFFI FARE Fund is Now Accepting Grant and Technical Assistance Applications.

Are you working to expand access to healthy foods for retail sale in your community? The Healthy Food Financing Initiative Food Access and Retail Expansion Fund (HFFI FARE Fund) is offering grants and technical assistance to support food retailers and post-harvest food retail supply chain enterprises working to improve healthy food access in underserved areas.

Learn more and apply here:

The HFFI Food Access and Retail Expansion Fund (HFFI FARE Fund) is a new program under the expanded America’s Healthy Food Financing Initiative.

We are excited to present the Rural Grocer of the Year Award at the 2026 National Rural Grocery Summit! Across the board...
04/30/2026

We are excited to present the Rural Grocer of the Year Award at the 2026 National Rural Grocery Summit! Across the board, grocers deserve recognition and thanks for all they do for our communities. This award recognizes independent rural grocers who have demonstrated excellence in community engagement, innovation, customer service, and more. We are excited to announce the following individuals as our three finalists for this award:
⭐ Bonnie Maas, Bonnies Hometown Grocery
⭐ Meta Jo Riseling, Walsh Community Grocery Store
⭐ Emily and Kaden Roush, Main Street Mercantile

Read about our award finalists here: https://ruralgrocery.org/learn/rural-grocery-spotlight/rural-grocer-of-the-year-finalists.html

Join us for the evening reception on Wednesday, May 6th as we announce the winner of this award at the Summit!

04/28/2026

We are officially one week away from the start of the 2026 National Rural Grocery Summit! We can't wait to see you in Fargo next week!

Preview the full agenda here as you start packing your bags:https://ruralgrocery.org/summit/agenda/NRGS-26-Brochure.pdf

Thank you to Natural Choice Foods, our platinum sponsor of the 2026 National Rural Grocery Summit! Stop by their booth a...
04/23/2026

Thank you to Natural Choice Foods, our platinum sponsor of the 2026 National Rural Grocery Summit! Stop by their booth at our exhibitor fair to thank them for their support and learn more about their work! They’ll also be leading a breakout session on Thursday, May 7th to focus on practical, proven ways excess inventory can help independent retailers remain profitable while continuing to serve as essential community anchors and also share about how they support rural grocers at Natural Choice Foods.

Did you know we have four pre-conference tours ahead of the 2026 National Rural Grocery Summit? Thank you to our tour sp...
04/22/2026

Did you know we have four pre-conference tours ahead of the 2026 National Rural Grocery Summit? Thank you to our tour sponsors, West Central Initiative and UNFI, and to all of our tour host sites!

You can learn more about the tours here: https://ruralgrocery.org/summit/tours.html. Space is limited so be sure to sign up today if you'd like to add a tour to your Summit registration!

  to some of our previous National Rural Grocery Summits over the years, starting with our inaugural Rural Grocery Summi...
04/16/2026

to some of our previous National Rural Grocery Summits over the years, starting with our inaugural Rural Grocery Summit in Inman, KS in 2008! Do you recognize some of the faces pictured here?

We'd love to have you in the room with us when we gather for the 2026 National Rural Grocery Summit in Fargo in less than three weeks! There is still time to get registered here: https://www.ruralgrocery.org/summit/register/

Address

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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