Max Kaniger, Founder & CEO, Kanbe’s Markets
The sharing of food has always been part of the human story. As we gear up for the 15th annual Kansas City Restaurant Week, Jan. 12-21, we at Kanbe’s Markets—KCRW 2024’s featured beneficiary—wanted to shine a spotlight on the importance of creating a stronger, more equitable future of food.
Food has a powerful ability to impact our lives. This sounds obvious—we quite literally could not live without food—but this is about much more than sustenance and survival. It’s about building community; the type of togetherness only occurs by sitting at a table and breaking bread with one another.
At Kanbe’s, we’ve always been clear about one thing: we do not feed people. Instead, we work with partners and clients throughout the community to improve food justice throughout KC—a way to empower all our neighbors to make healthier choices. Since 2018, our innovative food delivery system has put fresh, affordable fruits and vegetables into locally owned convenience stores, gas stations and corner bodegas, expanding food access for more than 250,000 Kansas Citians.
Food justice is simple: it is the idea that all of us deserve food. The more accessible food is for everyone, the stronger, more resilient, and more inclusive our communities will become. And while there is plenty of nourishing food to go around, many Kansas Citians live without consistent access to it.
By partnering with Visit KC and Kansas City Restaurant Week, we’re working to deliver food justice, improve environmental sustainability, and promote volunteerism throughout the region. We truly believe that Kansas City can be the first metro area in the country—and throughout the globe—to solve food insecurity.
With these aims in mind, here are five ways you can get in on the action and help us build a better Kansas City—providing the rest of the world with a blueprint for how to end food insecurity once and for all.
1. Reduce your food waste.
Food is the single largest component taking up space inside U.S. landfills. It’s estimated that more than a third of all food grown here ends up in a landfill, while one in eight Americans is experiencing food insecurity.
At Kanbe’s, we see these numbers as unacceptable. We’re producing enough food for everyone, but people are still going hungry. Kanbe’s is redirecting produce from gaps in local supply chains to improve food access, but that can only get us so far: we need everyday consumers to make more mindful decisions on how they shop for and consume groceries.
By focusing on meal prepping—buy what you’ll use, but use what you buy—we can shrink the amount of food ending up in landfills. Likewise, consider shopping at farmers markets and supporting local growers and producers (here’s a great list from KCUR). Finally, if food does go bad, that doesn’t mean it needs to end up in a landfill.
Of the 500,000+ pounds Kanbe’s redirected from landfills in 2023, more than 270,000 pounds of produce ended up on the tables of our neighbors. An additional 100,000 pounds of produce no longer fit for human consumption went to local farms to feed animals (and we have the video evidence that they love it). Finally, 110,000 lbs ended up being composted. By supporting local organizations like Compost Collective, Missouri Organic Recycling, and KC Can Compost, you too can help us reduce greenhouse gas emissions and give unwanted fruits and vegetables new life.
2. Volunteer at Kanbe’s Markets during (or after) KCRW.
We’re excited to share that, for the first time in Kansas City Restaurant Week’s 15-year history, the event will feature an opportunity for hands-on engagement with the featured beneficiary!
From Jan. 12-21, the Kanbe’s team is opening our warehouse to the public for a variety of volunteering opportunities, where groups can come together and sort through pallets of food that would otherwise have been headed for the landfill. We invite all diners to spend some time ahead of their Restaurant Week reservations to directly see the work being supported by KCRW.
3. Join the Kanbe’s Markets Grassroots Growers program.
Kanbe’s Grassroots Growers program is the simplest, most effective way you can support our mission to provide our neighbors with access to fresh, affordable and healthy foods.
By joining our community of consistent supporters, we can expand Kanbe's Healthy Corner Store program, which aims to serve neighborhoods where traditional grocery stores are scarce, if not nonexistent. To date, Kanbe’s has placed coolers in 50 stores in Kansas City’s food deserts, with plans to grow this number to 130 stores by 2025.
4. Support local food nonprofits.
Kanbe’s Markets is far from the only organization working to improve food access and support healthy lifestyles here in Kansas City. Since 2018, we’ve worked with dozens of companies and nonprofits whose missions align with our own. Here are some of the partners we’re collaborating with to help our neighbors put food on their tables.
- After the Harvest rescues nutritious fruits and vegetables from going to waste and donates them to agencies that serve hungry people throughout Kansas City.
- Boys Grow is mentoring Kansas City's urban youth through its two-year agricultural entrepreneurship program.
- Cultivate KC is a locally-grown nonprofit working to grow food, farms, and community in support of an equitable, sustainable and healthy local food system for all.
- Food Not Bombs recovers food that would otherwise be discarded, and shares free vegan and vegetarian meals with the hungry in over 1,000 cities in 65 countries.
- The Giving Grove works with community leaders to establish a nationwide network of “sustainable little orchards,” which produce fruits, nuts, and berries.
- Jewish Family Services supports and strengthens lives by providing essential human services for people who are facing challenges in everyday life or times of crisis.
- KC Healthy Kids advances the health and well-being of children and families through community-driven initiatives and advocacy where they live, learn, work and play.
- Mimi’s Pantry is is a state-of-the-art pantry offering a full range of food items needed to provide a nourishing, balanced meal for individuals and families.
- Nourish KC’s programs support teams working to rescue fresh local food, prepare nutritious meals, and serve as a community partner to address hunger’s core causes.
- Pete’s Garden collects unserved prepared food from caterers, restaurants, and food service operations to make it easier for families to enjoy fresh, healthy meals together.
- The Prospect, led by Kansas City native and community activist Shanita McAfee-Bryant, is spearheading programs designed to address food access, nutrition education and culinary job training.
- Thelma’s Kitchen is a donate-what-you-can community cafe specializing in box lunches that gathers neighbors to eat and serve together.
5. Enjoy a meal at Kansas City Restaurant Week.
Now this fun—and delicious—part we’ve all been waiting for…
By dining out at one of the 200+ restaurants participating in Kansas City Restaurant Week, Jan. 12-21, you’re directly supporting Kanbe’s mission. For every Restaurant Week meal sold, 10% of proceeds go directly to KCRW’s three charity partners: Kanbe’s Markets, the Visit KC Foundation, and the Greater Kansas City Restaurant Association (GKCRA) Education Foundation.
In its first 14 years, KC Restaurant Week raised more than $3.3 million for many incredible local organizations, including The Don Bosco Centers, Harvesters, Boys Grow, the Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Kansas City and the Guadalupe Centers.
The Kanbe’s team is honored to join this list, and we’re grateful for the support of Kansas City Restaurant Week, Visit KC, Sysco, and all our community partners. Most importantly, we thank all the KCRW diners, patrons, and restaurants who are opening their doors, wallets, and mouths to promote food justice in Kansas City.
Check out the special multi-course menus, download the KCRW app, and learn more about Kansas City’s premier event for affordable, adventurous eating at www.kcrestaurantweek.com.