Today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand held a virtual press conference to reintroduce her Healthy Food Financing Initiative Reauthorization Act, legislation to help end food deserts. Food deserts are areas where a significant portion of residents don’t have easy access to a grocery store and affordable, nutritious food. Instead, they are forced to rely on corner and convenience stores, which often sell little to no fresh produce, meat or dairy and whose prices are higher than those of a typical supermarket.
Gillibrand’s legislation would provide $50 million annually in mandatory federal funding for the Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI). HFFI is a USDA program that offers loans and grants to incentivize grocery stores to establish locations in areas where residents lack easy access to fresh food retailers.
“An easily accessible grocery store is a basic necessity, but hundreds of communities across our state don’t have consistent access to one,” said Senator Gillibrand. “That means residents have to travel miles outside their neighborhood just to buy staple groceries, a trip that can take hours on foot or by public transit for those without access to a car. It’s unacceptable. This legislation would provide $50 million each year to a federal program that incentivizes grocers to open new locations or expand existing ones to bring fresh food to areas that need it. It is a commonsense bill that would help communities across our country, and I look forward to working to get it passed.”
A map of food deserts across New York State is available here.
In New York State, HFFI has provided financial or technical assistance to 4 fresh food retailers in Troy, Rochester, Buffalo, and Brooklyn, as well as dozens more nationwide. A full list of recipients is available here.
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