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Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding announced a relaunch of the Fresh Food Financing Initiative. PHOTO/PACAST
Pa. ag industry gains $4M investment
Ed Gruver//October 16, 2024//
A relaunch of the Fresh Food Financing Initiative (FFFI) that will invest $4 million in businesses expanding access to fresh food in Pennsylvania was announced Wednesday by Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding.
“Pennsylvania farmers are at the top of their game at producing fresh, healthy food,” Redding said in a statement. “But too many families struggle to find – or afford — fresh food in their communities, and their health suffers. Fresh Food Financing grants help grocery stores and markets in those communities expand to meet that need.
“The initiative is one more way the Shapiro Administration is investing in opportunities for Pennsylvania farms, food businesses, and families to succeed,” added Redding.
Gov. Josh Shapiro allocated $2 million annually in each of his first two bipartisan state budgets to revive the initiative. In 2024, legislation was enacted giving the PA Department of Agriculture authority to spend the money.
More than one in nine Pennsylvanians, including 436,000 children face hunger, according to Feeding America’s annual Map the Meal Gap report. Hunger is not an issue of food scarcity, as many of those children and families live in communities where there is nowhere nearby to buy fresh, affordable, healthy food, according to the report.
Businesses providing fresh food directly to consumers, including grocery stores, neighborhood markets, bodegas, mobile markets, farm markets, are eligible for the grants. Businesses located in food deserts — areas designated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as having limited access to fresh food — will be given priority consideration, as well as women-, minority-, and veteran-owned businesses.
FFFI grants open for application on Nov. 2. Applications will be accepted through 5 p.m. on Jan. 18.
