Experts warn rural grocery closings could accelerate; Kansas lost 3 of every 8 in last 3 years

Experts say the long-running trend of rural grocery stores closing appears to be picking up steam. The grocery industry and government doesn't keep statistics on rural stores in particular, but a recent Kansas State University study revealed more than 38 percent of the groceries in Kansas towns of fewer than 2,500 people closed between 2006 (when there were 213 such groceries) and 2009, Betsy Blaney of The Associated Press reports. David Proctor, who studies rural communities at KSU, which has a Rural Grocery Initiative, explained that it isn't just a store that goes when groceries close. "Such closures rob towns of their vitality, with the loss of gathering places and sales tax revenue to fund local governments," Blaney writes.

"If you start to lose something key like a grocery store, people aren't likely to move there if they don't have access to food," Kathie Starkweather of the Nebraska-based Center for Rural Affairs told Blaney. Lois Wright Morton, an ISU rural communities researcher, points to some rural residents' preference to drive to larger towns and cities with a Wal-Mart or Target as one factor in rural grocery closures. These bigger supermarkets generally boast lower prices and larger selections but the distance to these stores can be particularly troublesome for the elderly and those who can't travel.

The Obama administration hopes its Healthy Food Financing Initiative will mitigate the problem. The departments of Treasury, Agriculture and Health and Human Services would spend $400 million a year "to bring grocery stores and other healthy food retailers to underserved urban and rural communities," Blaney writes, though it isn't clear yet how the money will be split between urban and rural areas. Nonprofit groups and some motivated local residents have also sprung up in some areas to address the problem. "It's like everything else," Craig Chancellor, who closed his small grocery in the Texas Panhandle in November, told Blaney. "You don't appreciate it until it's not there anymore." (Read more)