Community Economic Development Healthy Food Financing Initiative Projects

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Community Services (OCS) will award up to $9.5 million in grants ($800,000 maximum per project) in Community Economic Development (CED) discretionary grant funds to increase healthy food access in low-income urban and rural neighborhoods that have limited access to affordable and nutritious foods. Funds will be awarded to projects that address food deserts, increase healthy food access, foster self-sufficiency for low-income families, and create employment opportunities in low-income communities.

The program will provide technical and financial assistance for healthy food ventures that can improve access to the purchase and consumption of healthy and affordable foods and that can address the economic needs of low-income individuals and families through the creation of work and business opportunities within their communities. The program is intended to address issues of chronic unemployment and community deterioration in urban and rural areas, and to provide an alternative to Federal programs.

Initiative program's objectives are to support businesses and commercial activities that improve access to healthy foods and the overall health of community residents while creating long-term jobs in the community that:

• Bring healthy food choices to communities that are in food deserts through the establishment ofnew healthy food retail outlets or by supporting the offering of a significant number of healthy food choices at an existing retail outlet that lack such choices; 
• Develop and enhance distribution systems to increase the amount of healthy food going to healthy food retail outlets in food deserts; 
• Develop strategies that promote or encourage the purchase of healthy foods, including outreach andeducation to consumers in food deserts about healthy food choices and how they can be integrated into their diet; and 
• Provide income to low-income individuals so that they can become self-sufficient. 

Preference will be given to healthy food projects that involve collaboration with other Federal Healthy Food Finance Initiative Programs and certain additional Federal programs that address healthy food access, target rural communities and that will be located in one of the following states or Trust Territories that do not have an active CED-HFFI project.

The application due date is July 21, 2014. For more information, click here.