Kansas is the Wheat State, the nation’s and the world’s breadbasket, and a leader in grain sorghum, corn, soybean, and beef productions. By all appearance, it is a bustling agricultural state where food access should be the least of one’s concerns. Yet ironically, right in this agriculture state are patches of food deserts where local Kansans lack affordable and easy access to fresh food. In rural towns with population in the hundreds, grocery stores are few and far in between. What grocery stores there are struggle to operate with a handful of consumers. Getting food into these rural areas adds to the cost of food, creating a vicious circle that hurts local business and affordable food access. Lack of access to fresh food is not only an issue of convenience and economy; it negatively impacts local residents’ nutritional needs and health profiles. But many communities are finding solutions to their own problems. These are a few of their stories.
