MORAN — The addition of a commercial-grade kitchen to the Marmaton Market will bring more traffic its way as well as provide a communitywide service, predicts Marilyn Logan, manager of the grocery store.
The new kitchen is made possible through a $140,000 grant that Logan secured for Moran’s only grocery store. Logan learned of the award last week.
The grant comes through the U.S. Department of Agriculture and its Healthy Food Financing Initiative that helps bring food-related retail opportunities to underserved urban and rural communities.
Logan’s proposal passed muster last fall, which weeded out two-thirds of applicants. Of the 294 grants submitted, 134 were awarded nationwide. Of those, three made their way to Kansas.
“We’ve been waiting on pins and needles,” in anticipation of the news, Logan said. “We thought we had no chance.”
Logan said the new kitchen will be constructed in the back portion of the store.
“Our hope is that it will also stimulate use of the store,” she said. She envisions local residents using the kitchen to make homemade salsa, canned and bakery goods that can then be sold in local markets.
“This kitchen will be certified for commercial purposes,” she said.
She also envisions the kitchen to be used to prepare food for large gatherings such as family reunions or celebrations.
Logan also looks to use the kitchen to help prepare food for the county’s Meals on Wheels program. She estimates 20-25 households would partake of the services provided by the county.
“As it is, people are reluctant to drive to Iola to fetch the meals to deliver here as well as Elsmore and Savonburg. That way we can better serve the eastern part of Allen County,” she said. Logan had worked with county commissioners on such a possibility if the market were to receive the grant.
In her tenure at the store, Logan estimates she’s secured in the neighborhood of $250,000 in grants, including funds for a new heating and cooling system, and coolers for produce and meat.
Business at the market is “still lagging,” Logan said, noting that Moran-based shoppers are her biggest challenge.
“Even so, we pull in a lot of people from area towns, from Kincaid to Bronson, Savonburg and Stark, and even as far away as Chanute.”
“We’re trying to be as competitive as we can. Maybe the price of gas will make more people think twice before they travel out of town to buy their groceries,” she said.
Also putting the market on the map is the return of Farmers Market to its parking lot on the second and fourth Saturdays from 3 to 5 p.m. during the summer and fall months.
