For the Tohono O'odham Tribe in southwestern and central Arizona, food is the foundation of health, culture, community, family, and economies. Since 1996, the grassroots community organization Tohono O’odham Community Action (TOCA) has been dedicated to improving the health, cultural vitality, sustainability, and economic revitalization for the Tohono O’odham Nation.

This fall, thanks to TOCA’s new school food enterprise, Desert Rain Food Services, 700 children on the Tohono O'odham Nation will be served healthier school food sourced from local farmers. TOCA received a $300,000 Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) grant to pilot a school food service enterprise that supports healthier eating and a strong indigenous food economy.

The guide describes grants available from USDA that are applicable to food hubs and other food systems organizations, including grants from: Rural Development, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Risk Management Agency, Agricultural Marketing Service, Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Department of Commerce, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Department of Treasury, Appalachian Regional Commission, and Small Business Administration.

Rural grocery stores anchor a community by supplying fresh foods and staples; creating local jobs; attracting complementary businesses; and increasing the tax base. Today they are under siege because of competition with “big box” stores for customers; high energy costs, the inability to buy products in small quantities; elderly owners with no succession plans, and low population density. This webinar explores the unique challenges that rural grocers face and discuss innovative solutions to improving access to healthy foods in rural America.

Map which shows the location, grantee, and financing initiatives.

This webinar provides an overview of the “Find Money” section of the Healthy Food Retail Portal and provide examples of specific federal, state and local resources that can be tapped to create or expand healthy food retail opportunities in underserved communities.

MyTown Marketplace, a supermarket that serves the Highland Falls community of New York State, opened in 2011 with a grant provided by the New York Healthy Food Healthy Communities (HFHC) Fund.  The HFHC Fund is a healthy food financing program that supports healthy food retail projects in communities where residents struggle with limited access to healthy foods. The HFHC Fund is administered by the Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF), a national community development financial institution, and The Food Trust, a national food access organization.

Fare & Square is the culmination of numerous attempts to attract healthy food retailers to the severely distressed city of Chester, PA. Owned and operated by Philabundance, a nonprofit hunger relief organization, this 16,000-square-foot, nonprofit grocery store offers shoppers convenient access to “good food right around the corner” that has not been available in a grocery store format for more than a decade.

Mariposa Food Co-op operates as a full-service, cooperatively-owned and -operated grocery store in Philadelphia, PA. With more than 1,500 members they are active leaders in the cooperative movement. They currently employ 45 people, making them one of the neighborhood’s largest employers. This profile highlights the Co-op's impact on the local community and the funding and financing behind their recent expansion.