RAPID CITY, S.D. – Rapid City Collective Impact, Feeding South Dakota and others have been collecting data since April to show mapping of food access points in Rapid City. Manager of Feeding South Dakota, Mary Corbine, summarized the goal as working with local organizations to eliminate barriers that our neighbors’ face in accessing food.  

With the recent closure of Prairie Market and two Family Thrift locations, the Food Security Oversight Committee shared mapping that would affect the community. Corbine collected data, which identified gaps in food availability and access in light of the grocery store closures. Rapid City has 13 grocery stores. According to the most recent estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau, Rapid City has a population of 74,048. There are currently 5,700 people for every grocery store and in October the number of grocery stores is set to shrink to 10, which will increase the ratio to 7,400 people per grocery store.