Free Grocery Stores

Karla Hagemeister, Executive Director
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It sure feels good when you’re ahead of the trend. In a December 13, 2024, article in The Washinton Post (How Free Grocery Stores are Easing Hunger and Fighting Waste), Karla Marie Sanford highlighted the evolution of free grocery stores from their roots in food pantries. Key differences between a free grocery store and a food pantry are the stores’ focus on dignity and choice, with language, policies, and practices that value each person. In this developing model, barriers to access such as income limits and employment requirements are replaced by an emphasis on seeing each person and meeting them at their need.
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The reason for a person’s need is irrelevant when you exist to provide access to healthy food choices. It’s right there in our mission- healthy food choices.

The Breadbasket has food recovery and an element of choice in its origin, but moving from a pantry to a market model is relatively new since 2022. Food is something that we all have in common. It is a basic human need. But we all know that it is also incredibly personal, hence our affinity for the foods of our childhood or a seasonal favorite or the food that keeps our high cholesterol in check.

The features highlighted by Sanford- fresh and healthy food choices, an absence of complicated paperwork, shopping carts, and a welcoming environment are already present right here in Manhattan. These features and the reality that one in six residents of Riley County is experiencing food insecurity, have grown our weekly use to more than 400 households and drove the decision to relocate our services to a space that supports our work and values.

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Visitors to The Market in 2024 have an experience reminiscent of Genie’s lamp in Alladin- “phenomenal cosmic power, itty bitty living space!” We have a lot to offer, but not enough space to do it right. Only three or four guests can shop at a time. It is not uncommon for more than twenty guests to be waiting outside when The Market opens, creating a nearly constant wait in a space that is too small. One bathroom serves the whole facility. There is one office in the building, immediately adjacent to the bathroom. A kitchen serves as a break area, a walkway, and a space for semi-private conversations. In other words, it is way too small, and spaces have to serve too many purposes all at once.

Guests deserve a space made for them.
Guests deserve a calm atmosphere.
Guests deserve short wait times.
Guests deserve room to move.
Guests deserve each visit to be a pleasant experience.

Coming in May 2025, The Market @ FHBB will have the floor space and layout of a small grocery store. Our new location will match our physical program to our values and practices. With spaces designed to be functional today and flexible for the future, our board and staff are excited to see these values become a reality. ​

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