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October 2017

The Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI)

Overview

An overview of the Healthy Food Financing Initiative. A viable, effective, and economically sustainable solution to the problem of limited access to healthy foods, and can reduce health disparities, improve the health of families and children, create jobs, and stimulate local economic development in low-income communities.

Profile: Virginia Fresh Food Loan Fund

Overview

In 2013, Virginia Community Capital (VCC) launched the Virginia Fresh Food Loan Fund to enhance access to nutritious foods in Virginia’s inner cities, small towns, and rural communities. As a community development financial institution (CDFI), VCC supports small businesses and community development projects by offering flexible capital, investment opportunities, and advisory services.

Profile: Portland Mercado

Overview

The Latino community in Portland, Oregon, has grown rapidly in the last 20 years, from 3.3 percent of Portlanders to 11 percent, and by 2040 it is estimated that 23 percent of the city’s residents will be Latino. This growth, however, has not been accompanied by increases in opportunity.

Recognizing the important link between access to healthy food, economic opportunity, community building, and culture, Hacienda Community Development Center (CDC) secured a federal Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) grant in 2012 to develop Portland Mercado, an innovative project which includes a Latino cultural space and public market, bringing fresh food and good jobs to the community.

WEBINAR-Grocery Store and Retailer Scorecard

Overview

The “Grocery Store and Retailer Scorecard” is modeled on a successful and similar self-assessment scorecard developed for school lunchrooms by the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab and adopted by the United States Department of Agriculture. This webinar presents the “Grocery Store and Retailer Scorecard” tool and features speakers that highlight the behavioral economics that informed the tool’s development and the research conducted with grocers on feasibility and retailer adoption.

January 2016

WEBINAR-Leveraging Institutional Purchasing Power

Overview

Institutions such as hospitals, schools, businesses, and government agencies play a number of important roles in a community: service provider, employer, educator, as well as community and cultural hub. These institutions also play an important role in advancing the health and well-being of communities and can do so by leveraging their purchasing power to expand healthy food access for residents, clients, employees, and students. Across the country, institutions are advancing innovative food procurement programs and policies that are aligning food purchasing to support access to healthy, affordable, and sustainably produced food, strengthen local economies, grow quality jobs, and advance environmental sustainability. 
 
This webinar highlights examples, promising strategies, and lessons learned in engaging with health care, educational, and business institutions to shift purchasing practices toward improved healthy food access and more equitable food systems.
 
Featured Speakers: 
Ted Howard, Co-Founder and President, Democracy Collaborative
Lucia Sayre, Regional Director, Health Care Without Harm
Adam Kesselman, Project Director, Center for Ecoliteracy
Estefanía Narváez, West Coast Regional Coordinator, Real Food Challenge
Diana Rivera, Research Associate, PolicyLink (moderator)

WEBINAR-Equity in Healthy Food Access: Engaging Women and Entrepreneurs of Color

Overview

This webinar highlighted strategies and valuable resources for engaging female entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs of color in financing healthy food access projects. 
 
The webinar presented the economic potential of entrepreneurs of color and female entrepreneurs, common barriers and challenges to accessing capital, promising approaches for connecting smaller businesses with resources, as well as case studies and best practices from the field. 

Profile: Cooperative Fund of New England

Overview

The Cooperative Fund of New England  has played a leading role in financing the Northeast’s cooperative food movement. As a CDFI it has served as a financer, lender, and advisor to nearly every food co-op in the area.

Cooperatives differ from traditional businesses in that they are jointly owned by, and operated for the benefit of, the people using their services. A cooperative’s profits are distributed among its members, and decisions are made democratically.

WEBINAR-Research Your Community: Virtual Training

Overview

Research Your Community is a new mapping tool available on the Healthy Food Access Portal that can help individuals and organizations better understand the communities in which they are working in to improve access to healthy food.

The tool can also be a valuable resource for your advocacy and fundraising efforts. The grocery landscape is ever changing, and data is one of many ways to paint a picture of a community’s need for healthy food access interventions. This webinar will train users about how to effectively leverage this new tool.

WEBINAR-Funding Your Healthy Food Project with USDA Resources

Overview

As a nation, we must foster a food system that ensures urban and rural communities have access to fresh and healthy foods; small and mid-size farmers can produce and market food in an economically and sustainable manner; and consumers have the resources they need to live healthy and productive lives.
 
This webinar introduces the audience to several programs at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and provide examples of how USDA funding is being tapped to improve access to healthy foods and support local food system development in low-income urban communities.

2012 Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) Grantee List

Overview

FY 2012 Healthy Food Financing Initiative Grantees.

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