Healthy Food Financing Initiative

Improving access to healthy food in
underserved communities across the country

President Obama Includes Funding for the Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) in the Proposed Fiscal Year 2013 Federal Budget

• As a key component of the First Lady’s Let's Move! Campaign, and through dollars allocated in the last two budget cycles, HFFI has begun to help address the nation’s obesity epidemic by increasing access to healthy foods in urban, rural, and suburban communities that are underserved by supermarkets and grocery stores. 

• Since HFFI’s launch, $77 million has been allocated for HFFI and projects improving access to healthy food.  These dollars have gone towards a range of fresh food retail endeavors in underserved communities from supporting efforts to bring in full-service grocery stores to creating indoor/outdoor farmers’ markets where neighbors can gather and enjoy cooking demonstrations.  These projects are increasing access to healthy food, creating new jobs, and generating new economic opportunities in low-income communities across the nation. 

• A similar program in Pennsylvania (FFFI) has resulted in 88 projects being built or renovated in underserved urban and rural communities across the state, more than 5,000 jobs created or retained, and 400,000 people who now have increased access to healthy food.  $30 million invested state dollars has resulted in projects totaling more than $190 million.  This tested and highly successful model should be expanded through a national HFFI so it can reach far more underserved Americans throughout the country.

The Issue

Nationwide, 23.5 million Americans – especially children and families in low-income neighborhoods, communities of color and rural areas – live in neighborhoods without access to healthy, affordable foods.  Research shows that this lack of access to healthy foods is associated with a higher risk of obesity and other diet-related disease and that increasing access to healthy food can lead to better health – and that creating or improving healthy food retail in underserved communities also improve the community’s economic health.

Learn more: The Grocery Gap: Who Has Access to
Healthy Food and Why It Matters (PDF)

The Food Trust Solution

With partners The Reinvestment Fund and PolicyLink, The Food Trust advocated for the national Healthy Food Financing Initiative. The national Healthy Food Financing Initiative is a viable, effective, and economically sustainable solution to the problem of limited access to healthy foods and can achieve multiple goals: reducing health disparities and improving the health of families and children; creating jobs; and stimulating local economic development in low-income communities. This is a smart investment in the health and economic well-being of the country and its citizens. The Healthy Food Financing Initiative is based on the success of the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing, an innovative model to attract fresh-food retail investment in underserved communities by providing critical one-time grant and loan financing. These one-time resources help fresh food retailers overcome the higher initial barriers to entry into underserved, low-income urban, suburban, and rural communities, and would also support renovation and expansion of existing stores so they can provide the healthy foods that communities want and need. The Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative has also served as a model for several other states.

Learn more: Details about the Healthy Food Financing Initative

See the list of 2011 Health & Human Services HFFI Grantees

See the list of 2011 Treasury Grantees

Use TRF's policymap tool to learn more about food access
in your region

Contact The Food Trust’s John Weidman

Get involved: Let Congress know that access to grocery stores matters!