U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) has introduced a bill that would require the government to provide $50 million per year to the Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI), a USDA program that provides incentives for grocers to bring stores to underserved areas.
Gillibrand wants the funding to be included in the latest iteration of the farm bill, a legislative package that comes up for renewal every five years. Lawmakers did not reapprove the package last year, opting instead to pass an extension of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 that runs through Sept. 30.
Gillibrand has also asked Senate and House lawmakers working to hammer out legislation to fund the federal government for the rest of fiscal year 2024 to include $25 million for HFFI in the spending package. Senate appropriators are currently only planning to allocate $1 million to HFFI and the House has not set aside any money for the program, according to a letter from Gillibrand requesting the funds.
HFFI provides loans, grants and technical assistance to help cover the cost of building grocery stores, mobile food markets, food hubs and other facilities in food deserts, according to Gillibrand’s office. The public-private initiative also helps existing stores pay for renovations or expand.
Gillibrand announced her drive to direct federal funding to HFFI on Monday at Greater Good Grocery, a nonprofit grocery store located in a public housing complex in a part of Binghamton, New York, that is considered a food desert. The store, which does not impose income limits on shoppers, directs its profits to the Broome County Council of Churches, according to its website.
In 2022, HFFI distributed grants worth $22.6 million to 134 projects, nearly half of which are located in rural parts of the country, according to Reinvestment Fund, a community development financial institution that distributes HFFI funds in cooperation with USDA Rural Development. In her letter, Gillibrand said the program has provided more than $300 million in grants since 2011.
Last March, Gillibrand and other Democratic lawmakers introduced a bill to fund HFFI, but the legislation never made it out of committee.
