Grants Available to Expand Healthy Food Access
September 1, 2026
Submitted by Clara Misenhelter
The Kansas Healthy Food Initiative (KHFI) is now accepting applications for a fourth round of predevelopment technical assistance grants.
If you know of someone who is planning a project to increase healthy food access at the retail level in Kansas, this program could be a wonderful opportunity for them to get funding support to help take their project from an idea to the next stage.
These grants of up to $40,000 are able to cover project activities like
- Market or feasibility research.
- Architectural design assistance or site planning.
- Community assessments and engagement.
- Business planning.
- Legal counsel.
The deadline to apply is Sept. 25. KHFI will be holding office hours to help answer questions about the program on Sept. 3 and 17 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. (CT).
You can learn more about the grant program and find the link to register for office hours here. You can also read about previous grant recipients from the first three rounds of the program here to help spark ideas about what types of projects can be funded.
This news story published earlier this summer by K-State’s Division of Communications and Marketing also highlighted one specific project this grant program was able to support in Dighton, Kansas.
Please share this information with any of your constituents who might be interested in applying.
Reach out to khfi@ksu.edu with questions.
About the Kansas Healthy Food Initiative
KHFI is a public-private partnership that aims to increase access to affordable, healthy food to improve the health and economic development of Kansans and their communities. KHFI provides loans and grants to support the growth of new or existing healthy food retail outlets in low-resource and underserved communities throughout Kansas. The program also provides technical assistance to bridge informational gaps faced by healthy food stakeholders and food retailers across the state. The initiative is a partnership between the Rural Grocery Initiative (part of K-State Extension), the Kansas Health Foundation, Network Kansas, IFF, and The Food Trust. Since 2018, KHFI has funded 79 projects in 47 Kansas counties totaling $5,710,440 in loans and grants. To learn more about KHFI and sign up for KHFI's quarterly newsletter, visit https://www.kansashealthyfood.org/.
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