U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny
Perdue today announced 32 grants totaling $16.8 million to help Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants increase their purchases of
fruits and vegetables.
The program is
operated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of
Food and Agriculture (NIFA). The funding
comes from the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI) program, authorized
by the 2014 Farm Bill.
“These grants help provide low income
families with the resources they need to consume more nutritious food. Last year, SNAP helped put healthy food on
the tables of at least 44 million Americans, including 19 million children,”
Perdue said. “This builds on the successes of health-related incentives, with
many of the projects being conducted at farmers markets. At the same time,
we’re also helping to strengthen local and regional food systems.”
FINI is a joint program between NIFA
and USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service, which oversees SNAP and is responsible
for evaluating the impact of the variety of types of incentive programs that
are deployed by FINI grantees. The program brings together stakeholders from
different parts of the national food system to improve the nutrition and health
status of SNAP households. The awards under FINI represent a variety of
projects, including relatively small pilot projects, multi-year community-based
projects, and larger-scale multi-year projects.
Grants being announced, by state,
include:
FINI Pilot Projects (up to $100,000,
not to exceed 1 year):
East Bay Asian Local Development
Corporation, Oakland, California, $76,697
Sacramento Food Bank & Family
Services, Sacramento, California, $63,494
The Kenny Family Foundation,
Wilmington, Delaware, $45,000
Presence Health, Chicago, Illinois,
$100,000
Iowa Healthiest State Initiative, Des
Moines, Iowa, $99,587
Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, Red
Lake Nation, Minnesota, $78,188
Capacity Builders, Inc., Farmington,
New Mexico, $26,478
Rochester Institute of Technology,
Rochester, New York, $99,997
Janus Youth Programs, Inc., Portland,
Oregon, $94,566
Appalachian Resource Conservation
& Development Council, Johnson City, Tennessee, $94,211
Richmond City Health District,
Richmond, Virginia, $98,108
Multi-year community-based projects
(up to $500,000, not to exceed 4 years):
Community Services Unlimited Inc., Los
Angeles, California, $500,000
Yolo County Health and Human Services
Agency, Woodland, California, $500,000
FRESHFARM Markets, Inc., Washington,
District of Columbia, $250,000
Atlanta Community Food Bank, Atlanta,
Georgia, $250,000
The Food Basket, Inc., Kailua-Kona,
Hawaii, $500,000
Heritage Ranch Inc., Honaunau, Hawaii,
$500,000
VNA Health Care, Aurora, Illinois,
$488,090
The Experimental Station: 6100
Blackstone, Chicago, Illinois, $487,197
Mountain Comprehensive Health
Corporation, Whitesburg, Kentucky, $307,916
Crossroads Community Food Network,
Inc., Takoma Park, Maryland, $112,403
Together We Can, North Las Vegas, Nevada,
$500,000
The Fortune Society, Inc., New York
City, New York, $498,000
Reinvestment Partners, Durham, North
Carolina, $398,960
Youngstown Neighborhood Development
Corporation, Youngstown, Ohio, $498,880
Nurture Nature Center, Easton,
Pennsylvania, $267,394
Rhode Island Public Health Institute,
Providence, Rhode Island, $299,844
Grow Food d/b/a Viva Farms, Mount
Vernon, Washington, $488,758
Multi-year large-scale projects
($500,000 or greater, not to exceed 4 years):
California Department of Food and Agriculture,
Sacramento, California, $3,944,573
Community Farm Alliance, Inc., Berea,
Kentucky, $602,159
Fair Food Network, Ann Arbor,
Michigan, $3,500,000
The Food Trust, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, $987,500
Among the grant recipients this year,
The Experimental Station 61St Street , located in an underserved neighborhood
on Chicago’s South Side, will increase the affordability of fruits and
vegetables sold in Illinois Farmers Markets for Illinois SNAP clients. The
project aims to expand the SNAP Double Coupon Program incentive to an
additional 80 Illinois Farmers Markets and direct-to-consumer venues.
Currently, the project has funded almost 90 farmers markets and
direct-to-consumer venues statewide and facilitated thousands of SNAP shoppers
to purchase almost $500,000 of additional fresh and healthy foods with the
Double Value Coupon incentives. More than 22,000 low-income Illinois residents
will benefit from affordable access to the region’s freshest fruits, vegetables
and other healthy goods.
To read the full story from the USDA website, click here.
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