Healthy Food Access: A View of the Landscape in Minnesota and Lessons Learned from Healthy Food Financing Initiatives

Overview

The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and Wilder Research conducted a mixed-methods study to provide information to those interested in improving Minnesota's food retail environment.

Profile: Portland Mercado

Overview

The Latino community in Portland, Oregon, has grown rapidly in the last 20 years, from 3.3 percent of Portlanders to 11 percent, and by 2040 it is estimated that 23 percent of the city’s residents will be Latino. This growth, however, has not been accompanied by increases in opportunity.

Recognizing the important link between access to healthy food, economic opportunity, community building, and culture, Hacienda Community Development Center (CDC) secured a federal Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) grant in 2012 to develop Portland Mercado, an innovative project which includes a Latino cultural space and public market, bringing fresh food and good jobs to the community.

CED and CED-HFFI Funding Opportunity Announcements

Overview

This session presented information about the CED and CED-HFFI grant competition, based on the CED and CED-HFFI funding opportunity announcements (FOAs). It outlined the programs’ purposes and strategies, provided tips and tools for submitting an application for CED or CED-HFFI funding, and identified key application criteria and requirements.

Community Economic Development (CED) Program Overview Webinar

Overview

This session provided prospective CED applicants with an overview of the CED program, including the program’s mission and objectives, organizations eligible to apply, the program’s target population, and examples of successful CED projects. The webinar also provided a summary of funding requirements and estimated award amounts. 

A Hearing for Chief Judge Merrick B. Garland

Today, President Barack Obama nominated Merrick B. Garland to be the 113th justice of the United States Supreme Court.  By all accounts, Mr. Garland is an outstanding candidate.  He had a stellar career as a lawyer, both in the public and private sectors, and serves as the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, perhaps the most prestigious and celebrated federal appeals court in the country.  And in 1997, he received bipartisan support for his appointment to the DC Circuit.

Yet, if we are to believe what we have seen and heard starting just 15 minutes after Justice Antonin Scalia’s untimely death was announced, Mr. Garland will not be confirmed.  Indeed, he will not even get a hearing.  That a candidate as accomplished as Mr. Garland will not be allowed to make a case to the American public that he is the right person for the job and that he will protect the rights and liberty of all people living in this country, is an undeniably glaring signal of how dispiritingly broken and dysfunctional our politics have become.

Of course, there is more at stake with this nomination than the functioning of our political system.  Critically important cases, whose resolution could undermine efforts to advance equity for low-income communities and community of color, are before the Court.  For example, in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, the Court will revisit the constitutionality of affirmative action.  In Evenwel v. Abbott, the Court’s ruling could undermine the political power of minority groups, particularly Latinos.  And at issue in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, is the financial sustainability of unions.  Mr. Garland’s appointment, assuming he is confirmed in a timely manner, could lead to rulings that promote equity in all these cases. 

Article II, Section 2 of the United States Constitution states, “[The President] shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and judges of the Supreme Court . . . ."

President Obama has done his job.  It is time for Republicans in the Senate to do theirs.

WEBINAR-Grocery Store and Retailer Scorecard

Overview

The “Grocery Store and Retailer Scorecard” is modeled on a successful and similar self-assessment scorecard developed for school lunchrooms by the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab and adopted by the United States Department of Agriculture. This webinar presents the “Grocery Store and Retailer Scorecard” tool and features speakers that highlight the behavioral economics that informed the tool’s development and the research conducted with grocers on feasibility and retailer adoption.

Childhood Adversity and Adult Reports of Food Insecurity Among Households With Children

Overview

This study investigated the association between female caregivers’ adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and household and child food insecurity, taking into account depressive symptoms. 

Food Insecurity among Immigrants, Refugees, and Asylees

Overview

IN FOCUS for this issue is “Food Insecurity among Immigrants, Refugees, and Asylees in the United States,” which explores the limited, but growing, body of research on this potentially vulnerable population. The second section of the issue – NEW RESEARCH – highlights ten recent studies related to food insecurity, including new research on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Great Recession, adolescents, veterans, and health outcomes.

Florida lawmakers consider lowcost grocery store loans to promote healthy eating

Overview

Concerned with the growing number of Floridians struggling to put nutritious yet affordable food on their tables, state lawmakers are weighing a proposal that would bring full-service stores to their neighborhoods. Florida's Healthy Food Financing Initiative would give low-cost loans to nonprofit organizations or for-profit businesses to put grocery stores in what the federal government calls food deserts. These are Census tracts where a percentage of residents have little money, live more than walking distance from a supermarket selling fresh food, but have no cars to drive to shop.

Communities of Innovation: Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Overview

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania is known for its well-regarded agricultural land preservation program. Located in southeastern Pennsylvania, the county of a half-million people uses plans and policies to support agriculture and other components of their economy.

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