Grants Will Support Early-Stage Projects Designed to Increase Food Access in 45 Rural, Urban, and Tribal Communities Nationwide
PHILADELPHIA, PA – Today, Reinvestment Fund awarded nearly $5.8 million in grants through its Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) 2024 Planning Grant Program, a program of America’s HFFI, a public-private partnership administered by Reinvestment Fund on behalf of USDA Rural Development. The awarded grants will be used to support planning activities for 45 projects developing or expanding food retail and food retail supply chain business models that will increase consumer access to healthy food in areas across the country with limited access to grocery stores.
“Early-stage funding for planning and predevelopment is challenging to obtain and essential in the long run to support sustainable businesses that help their communities thrive” said Don Hinkle-Brown, President and CEO of Reinvestment Fund. “We are honored to continue our partnership with USDA to provide essential resources that help communities across the country start and expand critical food retail and food supply chain projects.”
“No matter where you live in our country, you should be able to get affordable, fresh, and healthy food close to home,” Deputy Secretary Torres Small said. “Through the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is working with farmers and ranchers, food retailers, and other stakeholders to strengthen the local and regional food systems we all count on. Reinvestment Fund has been a key partner to USDA in these efforts and today’s investments will ensure more communities get the nutritious food we all deserve.”
The 45 awardees for the HFFI 2024 Planning Grant Program were selected through a competitive process. The program received 193 applications requesting more than $24,000,000 in funding. The portfolio of 2024 Planning Grant Program awards includes a variety of different projects planning business models along the food supply chain that will serve areas that lack access to food retailers, which includes USDA designated Low-Income, Low-Supermarket Access census tracts across 28 states, in addition to Washington, DC. 33 percent of projects are located in Rural Areas and 31 percent of projects serve Very Low Income Areas. 93 percent of projects will involve food retail businesses and 27 percent of projects will involve food retail supply chain businesses. Awardees include:
A complete list of projects funded through the HFFI 2024 Planning Grant Program is available here.
As part of the expansion of the HFFI program, earlier this year Reinvestment Fund announced $40 million in awards to food financing partnerships through the inaugural Local and Regional Partnerships Program (HFFI Partnerships Program) and launched the new Food Access and Retail Expansion Fund (HFFI FARE Fund), which will provide $60 million over the next five years in technical assistance, grants, and loans to food retail and food retail supply chain projects. To learn more about the history and impact of America’s HFFI, visit www.investinginfood.com.
As the National Fund Manager, Reinvestment Fund administers the HFFI program on behalf of USDA. The public-private partnership aims to provide capacity building and financing resources to stimulate food business development at scale and build a more equitable food system that supports the health and economic vibrancy of all Americans.
Beginning with the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative in 2004, Reinvestment Fund has developed a comprehensive approach to food systems financing across the country providing nearly $400 million in grants and loans to healthy food projects to date. Since 2010, federal and local HFFI programs have helped leverage more than $320 million in grants and about $1 billion in additional financing because of private-public partnerships with entities including the departments of the Treasury and Health and Human Services.
Learn more at www.investinginfood.com.
Media Contact: media@reinvestment.com
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About Reinvestment Fund
Reinvestment Fund is a mission-driven financial institution committed to making communities work for all people. We bring financial and analytical tools to partnerships that work to ensure that people in communities across the country have the opportunities they strive for: affordable places to live, access to nutritious food and health care, schools where their children can flourish, and strong, local businesses that support jobs. We use data to understand markets and how transactions can have the most powerful impact, which has consistently earned us the top Aeris rating of AAA for financial strength and four stars for impact management. Our asset and risk management systems have also earned us an AA- rating from S&P. Since our inception in 1985, Reinvestment Fund has provided over $3.2 billion in financing to strengthen neighborhoods, scale social enterprises, and build resilient communities. Learn more at reinvestment.com.