Across the country, nearly 40 million Americans live in rural and urban neighborhoods where easy access to affordable, high-quality, and healthy food is out of reach. A new bill, introduced by Representatives Marcia Fudge (D-OH) and Dwight Evans (D-PA), addresses this critical issue by bolstering an existing program that has demonstrated success in improving access to healthy foods and spurring economic revitalization in underserved communities. The “Healthy Food Financing Initiative Reauthorization Act” would reauthorize the Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) program at United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Office of Rural Development, originally established at the agency in the Agricultural Act of 2014.

In 2009, PolicyLink, The Food Trust, and Reinvestment Fund joined forces on a national campaign that, together with diverse partners and stakeholders, led to the launch of the HFFI program at the Departments of Treasury and Health and Human Services in 2011. Building on the success, HFFI’s inclusion in the 2014 Farm Bill came with strong bipartisan support, officially establishing HFFI at USDA and authorizing up to $125 million for the program. In January 2017, USDA announced the selection of Reinvestment Fund to serve as HFFI’s National Fund Manager.

To date, HFFI has invested $220 million in grants and loans to more than 35 states to improve access to healthy food, create and preserve jobs, and revitalize communities. The program’s public-private partnership model has enabled grantees to leverage over $1 billion in additional resources to expand healthy food businesses such as grocery stores, food hubs, co-ops and other enterprises that increase the supply of and the demand for healthy foods in low-income, underserved rural and urban communities. 

HFFI reauthorization and expansion would build on these past successes, as well as broaden and deepen the program’s impact, by targeting areas of the country that still struggle with healthy food access. Rural communities, small towns, and urban areas would benefit from the program’s investments expanding healthy food-related small businesses, strengthening farm to retailer and consumer infrastructure, and supporting local and regional food system development.  

We applaud the ongoing leadership and commitment of Representatives Fudge and Evans, each of whom have served as long-standing champions of HFFI and improving healthy food access.  Representative Fudge played a key leadership role in ensuring funding was authorized for HFFI in the 2014 Farm Bill legislation, and Representative Evans served an instrumental role to launch the highly successful Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative, which served as the original model for the federal HFFI program. 

Innovative programs like HFFI represent critical steps forward to ensure that all communities not only have access to healthy, affordable food, but also benefit from quality jobs, business development opportunities, and other resources needed to create healthy, thriving communities of opportunity.  

By Diana Turoff, President and CEO of Finance Fund Capital Corporation

For nearly four years, the only option for over 13,000 Vinton County residents to buy fresh produce, meat, dairy, and other healthy foods was to travel many miles to another county. That obstacle has been remedied by the long-awaited grand opening of Campbell's Market, a new full-service grocery store located at 630 W. Main Street in McArthur, Ohio.

The new store is the result of a collaborative effort among many partners, including local community members, the Campbell family, Finance Fund Capital Corporation (FCAP), The Food Trust, and representatives from local, state, and federal governments. FCAP, a statewide community development financing institution, provided funding for the project through its Healthy Food for Ohio (HFFO) program. The HFFO program is Ohio’s first ever statewide healthy food financing program and provides flexible financing to eligible rural and urban healthy food retail projects in low-income, underserved areas throughout the state. Through this program, Campbell’s Market received nearly $1.6 million in financing to build a 12,000-square-foot full-service grocery store.

The HFFO program was created by a statewide coalition of nearly 50 health, grocery, business, civic, and economic development leaders who joined together as the Ohio Healthy Food Financing Task Force.  One of the key recommendations coming from the task force was the creation of a financing program such as HFFO, to help grocers overcome the unique barriers they face to open and remain open in underserved areas.

FCAP received over $2 million from the State of Ohio to fund healthy food retail projects statewide through the HFFO program. To date, the HFFO program has invested nearly $5 million for nine healthy food projects, creating almost 200 jobs and providing close to 70,000 Ohioans with much-needed fresh food access. 

Campbell’s Market in McArthur celebrated its grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony on December 4. U.S. Congressman Steve Stivers exclaimed, "Today, we get to declare the food desert in Vinton County OVER!"  He thanked a gathering of community members as well as the Campbell family, FCAP President and CEO Diana Turoff, State Representative Ryan Smith, and State Senator Bob Peterson for their impactful contributions that made this project possible. This store has already attracted additional businesses, created over 30 jobs for local residents, and improved the quality of life for this community.

For over 30 years, Finance Fund has connected underserved communities with public and private sources of capital to help spark community development and create jobs in distressed communities statewide. Learn more about Finance Fund at http://www.financefund.org/about-us/ and the Healthy Food for Ohio program in the View Policy Efforts by State section.

*The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of The Healthy Food Access Portal.