2024 Grocery Retail for All Summit
On Friday, December 13, retailers, policymakers, entrepreneurs, academics, community leaders, and other key stakeholders gathered together for the Grocery Retail for All Summit, co-hosted by The Global Food Institute at the George Washington University, Food Systems for the Future (FSF), and José Andrés.
FSF released a new report during this event, “Grocery Retail for All: Affordable, Nutritious Food in Every Neighborhood.” This report is aimed at identifying creative solutions to the persistent challenges faced by grocery operators in low-income communities across the United States. The report highlights opportunities for innovation, collaboration, policy change, and funding in the grocery sector, all focused on increasing grocery retail success and ensuring the affordability, availability, and accessibility of nutritious food in every community.
Key Takeaways
The USDA Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, provided remarks that underscored the significant progress USDA under the Biden-Harris Administration has made in transforming the nation’s food system over the past several years to make it fairer, more competitive, and more resilient, as well as the important role retailers and the food industry have in advancing access to affordable, nutritious food.
(Pictured L-R) Tom Phillips, Executive Director, StarkFresh; Aaron (AJ)
Johnson,President, Oasis Market, Maxfield Kaniger - Founder & CEO,
Kanbe's Markets; Ertharin Cousin,CEO and Managing Director, USDA
Secretary, Tom Vilsack; Leslie G. Sarasin, President & CEO, FMI;
Stephanie Johnson, Vice President, Government Relations
National Grocers Association and Stacy Dean, Executive Director,
Carbonell Family,The Global Food Institute.
Throughout the day, there were engaging panels from key stakeholders across the grocery retail industry. Topics included
- The power of creating transformational partnerships is in advancing equitable access to affordable and nutritious food.
- The secret to successful innovative models from community and independent grocers
- Successful investment models that drive growth and impact in grocery retail for underserved communities.
Grocery Summit in the News
- Grocery Retail for All: Building Bridges for Equitable Food Access Across the U.S., FoodTank (November 2024)
- Report examines retail grocery access in low-income communities, The Packer (December 17, 2024)