January 27, 2026
Grants Available to Expand Healthy Food Access
Submitted by Clara Misenhelter
The Kansas Healthy Food Initiative (KHFI) is now accepting applications for a third round of Predevelopment Technical Assistance Grants with a deadline of February 27, 2026!
Last year, KHFI awarded nine projects a total of $262,831 through two rounds of funding in this program. You can learn more about the program and read about previous grant recipients on our website. These grants are for organizations and businesses that are planning projects to expand healthy food access at the retail level. These may include brand new enterprises or the expansion of existing businesses. This financial assistance is geared towards projects that are still in early concept or predevelopment stages and are not yet ready for full implementation. Project activities include (but are not limited to) market or feasibility research, architectural design assistance or site planning, community assessments and engagement, business planning, and legal counsel.
New this year, our team will be offering open office hours when the application is open. During this round, office hours will be offered from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm Central Time on January 29, February 12, and February 26. Office hours may be used to share about your project idea, ask questions about the application process, and confirm project eligibility. Register here for the Zoom link.
Please share this information with any partners who you think might be interested in applying and reach out to our team at 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 77 projects in 46 Kansas counties totaling $4,929,982 in loans and grants.
To learn more about KHFI and sign up for KHFI's quarterly newsletter, visit https://www.kansashealthyfood.org/.