Food Access Solutions Taking Shape in Rural Pennsylvania

As his shift winds down, store manager John Belfiore pushes a wide broom across the tile floor of Cambridge Grocery. He can still name the grocers that once anchored the rural town of Cambridge Springs, including Vogel's Food Mart and Peterson's Golden Dawn.

Cambridge Grocery opened in September 2025 in the building that once housed Hendrickson's True Value Hardware. Its dark wood façade and outdoor display area still whisper hardware, while inside, bright white aisles cut through the open floor, stocked with canned goods, milk and eggs, and bins of fresh produce.

In Cambridge Springs, residents still remember Vogel's Food Mart – its child-sized grocery carts and hot coffee that made the store feel like part of the neighborhood. The store closed not long after a Dollar General opened down the street, a shift that reshaped how the town buys its groceries.

This shift in local food options is a trend beyond Cambridge Springs. There are 977 Dollar Generals across Pennsylvania, with 30 in Erie County alone. A study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found the likelihood that a rural grocery store will close after a dollar store opens nearby is three times higher than in urban communities.

For many rural communities in Northwestern Pennsylvania, access to fresh, affordable food is a daily challenge. Residents often travel miles to reach a retail grocery store, and the arrival of big-box and dollar stores has reshaped local food landscapes – sometimes closing the doors on long-standing neighborhood staples. While rural areas may have smaller populations, a larger share of residents face food insecurity. According to Feeding America, the 20 counties in Pennsylvania with the highest rates of food insecurity are predominantly rural.