Food is Medicine

Kanbe’s Markets is a 501(c)3 non-profit on a mission to build a more inclusive food system by transforming food loss into food access. Our goal is to eliminate food insecurity while simultaneously reinvesting into our communities and reducing food waste. We achieve this through a distinctive business model that creates local fresh-food sources, supports small businesses, and activates local volunteers to make a difference.

We partner with independently owned stores in low food-access tracts across Kansas City by installing a stand-alone cooler and tiered basket rack to provide fresh food choices inside shops customers already visit. Through volunteers, we hand-sort this excess, redirecting rescued produce to areas of greatest need. More than half of the food we rescue goes directly to feeding our community, adding millions of dollars worth of rescued food into our region's food pantries, kitchens, and shelters—for free.