Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's District Community Affairs Officers report on local and regional opportunities for banks to become involved with community efforts, including opportunities to help finance healthy-food initiatives.

The city of Newark, N.J., is supporting the Healthy Food Financing Initiative and creating local jobs by participating in a partnership financing arrangement that will store and distribute food, including fresh produce.

Circle Food Store received a $1 million loan from the city's Fresh Food Retailer Initiative to open stores selling fresh produce in low-income neighborhoods. Officials hope the store's redevelopment will serve as a catalyst for rebuilding a robust community, generating taxes, discouraging blight and creating jobs.

UpLift Solutions is a national nonprofit organization that supports food businesses, government, and nonprofits to create sustainable environments for underserved communities. UpLift Solutions believes that full service supermarkets in underprivileged communities can become the anchor to fulfill community needs and ensure consistent access to fresh, affordable food. UpLift Solutions is able to implement its programs in underserved markets across the country by creating entrepreneurial solutions that empower communities while benefiting all stakeholders involved. 

This report outlines the unique challenges and opportunities of inner-city markets and provides the experience of grocery retailers serving inner-city communities. It seeks to uncover key principles for grocery retailers to operate profitably in inner-city communities.

 This webinar discusses how to identify and leverage financing mechanisms to create healthier food options in local communities, and heard from people who have experience launching and sustaining successful projects.

M. Gallagher coined the now-popular term "food desert." At the Consumer Cooperative Management Association 2011 conference, M. Gallagher shares some of her ideas for solutions that food co-ops can create.

A presentation on food hubs. The slides provide an overview of this unique food system and uses case studies to demonstrate its feasibility and viability. There is also a brief section on financials.

The California FreshWorks Fund disbursed $8.5 million in New Markets Tax Credit financing for tenant improvements and other costs related to the development of a new 42,625 square foot, full-service Northgate Gonzalez Market.

A panel of funding experts illustrate the many conventional and unconventional ways food hubs can secure needed capital. Three hubs are highlighted and the panel advises on how to best access grants, loans, and other creative financing sources appropriate to that hub.