Kanbe's Markets

To truly address food injustice, which keeps fresh produce out of neighborhoods in need, the communities must have an active role in the change and the strengthened food economy must directly benefit them. Kanbe’s Markets’ focus on profit-sharing, hiring from the community, and meeting people where they are sets us apart from other like-minded organizations operating in a more centralized model.

One of the two programs helping us to address food injustice in an innovative way is our Healthy Corner Stores (HCS) program. Through HCS, we partner with existing small businesses (to profit-share) in the neighborhoods (where we hire directly from) to bring fresh, affordable produce to where the people already are. Funding from the Elevate Prize will directly support the operating costs related to that program. Primarily, we want to support the staff we hire directly from the community; we want to be able to subsidize food costs; and we want to fuel our fleet, crucial to our ability to deliver food every day of the week.

Kanbe’s is a unique solution: we are outside the “regular” in that we are dedicated to alleviating food insecurity in Kansas City, and not through the means of a traditional supermarket or asking small business owners to play substitute grocer (more than they already are). We want to see communities free of burdens placed on them by food deserts, which are areas defined by the USDA as geographically void of fresh, healthy food. We are committed to improving two of our food system's most devastating issues: food waste and insecurity. Our model puts the two in the same hand, as we connect local food—what would otherwise be destined for the landfill from our wholesale partners or local farmers—with the local food need. By then partnering with existing corner stores and gas stations, and our ability to acquire produce inexpensively from local farmers and wholesale partners, we are able to give our communities the dignity of being able to choose healthy options for them and their families. When our communities are empowered, we all feel those ripple effects, and we are all able to thrive.

We are dismantling systemic inequalities and rebuilding both our communities and our food system. Many cities across the US feel the burdensome effects of food deserts, and Kansas City is no exception. In our city, like in many, food insecurity coincides with racial inequality; for Kansas City, the largest food deserts are marked by Troost Avenue—the historic racial dividing line—indicative of years of redlining and marginalization in our communities. According to Feeding America, Black Americans are twice as likely as their white counterparts to face hunger. Census estimates show the zip codes Kanbe’s serves within a single county have a total population of 227,807, with 54,968 in poverty and, of those, 30% were people of color. For too long, residents in these neighborhoods have been denied access to traditional grocery stores and sources of fresh fruits and vegetables. Solving food insecurity is not only a matter of addressing this access, but a matter of ensuring individuals have the opportunity to make healthy choices and then understand why those choices matter.

Our model, the Kanbe’s way, is, right now, the only way. Our work builds slightly on previous efforts or models, but none have put the onus on themselves the way we have. We do the work: we operate as a distribution nonprofit, where we handle the logistics for small business owners by delivering, stocking, and rotating fresh food seven days a week. Local growers and other organizations are also our partners who we coordinate fresh food with daily, so that anything we are not putting in our corner stores is feeding the people in any and all ways possible. The little that is leftover? It goes to compost, which compost goes straight back to our farmers.

Like we said, we aim to be on every corner for a reason. Some of our locations are open 24/7, which is leaps and bounds above other options available for folks who might work four jobs and do not have time to find a store (or mobile grocery store) that might have a healthy option for them. Our corner stores are a reliable and constant delivery space in the heart of the neighborhood, so that when we show up, they show up.

Dignity. We at Kanbe’s believe in empowering people through the dignity of choice. We understand the working class, or the working poor, are not always in want of a “handout”. Our organization is able to offer those who want to purchase their own food and provide themselves the ability to do so in a way that is not detrimental to their selfhood or to their financial stability. More corner stores means more individuals we can give access to healthy choices, and thereby healthy citizens.

It sounds too easy, to have access to good, healthy food means life gets better all around—but it does. For kids, retention and graduation rates go up while issues with attendance go down. Neighborhoods are revitalized, because we spread the abundance. Our corner stores are meant to exist on the corner of every block for a reason. Geographic and financial access are key, because those ensure everyday reliability of fresh options for individuals and their families. It is why, at Kanbe’s, we say we grow communities, because we do.