40 million Americans still live without easy access to fresh and healthy food options.

Reinvestment Fund is inviting applications for grant awards and technical assistance through the 2021 round of the America’s Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) Targeted Small Grants Program. Funding for the HFFI Targeted Small Grants Program is provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), authorized by the Farm Bill. Reinvestment Fund serves as the national fund manager for the HFFI program at USDA. The 2021 HFFI round is offering at least $4 million in grant funds for food retail and food enterprises working to improve access to healthy foods in underserved areas, to create and preserve quality jobs, and to revitalize low-income communities.

MARSH Grocery Cooperative will sell locally grown produce, bulk dry goods and other organic food on a sliding scale, based on what each customer can afford. The nonprofit’s employees are also partial owners who live in the surrounding neighborhood and help manage the organization.

Multiple speakers at the groundbreaking spoke about Peathon Massey, a 70-year Flint resident who wanted to see the opening of the city’s first co-op grocery store but died shortly before its opening at age 93.

The California Indian Museum and Cultural Center is using a significant USDA grant to reconnect these tribal community members to traditional knowledge and practices, including foodways.