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

Reinvestment Fund is inviting applications for grant funding through the 2020 round of the 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 2020 HFFI round significantly increases the available funding compared to the previous round, offering $3 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.

While grocers struggle amid consolidations, a coalition supports innovative ways to deliver fresh food to underserved rural areas.

A program designed to bring fresh fruits and vegetables to Austin through weekend popup shops recently received a federal grant that could help it become a more permanent presence in the community. The Austin Grocery Initiative, which is a collaboration between Forty Acres Fresh Market and the Westside Health Authority, received $185,000 in financial assistance from Healthy Food Financing Initiative, a new grants program through the United States Department of Agriculture. The Austin Grocery Initiative was one of 23 grantees awarded financial and technical assistance grants.

Forty million Americans still live without easy access to fresh and healthy food options. But not if the Healthy Food Financing Initiative(HFFI), which provides financial assistance and technical assistance to food access projects, has anything to say about it. Set into motion by the Agricultural Act of 2014, the HFFI is a public-private partnership headed by Reinvestment Fund on behalf of USDA (United States Department of Agriculture).