Northgate Markets, a family-owned grocer with 34 locations in Southern California, responded to Inglewood residents’ request for better access to healthy food.  Located southwest of Los Angeles, Inglewood is a diverse community, with large African American and Latino populations.  Coming out of the Great Recession, the Inglewood community has continued to face economic hardships, with 21...

The reopening of Circle Food Store in New Orleans is part of the city's commitment to improve the business and economic infrastructure of the Seventh Ward after the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina.  A predominately African American, low- to moderate-income community, many residents struggle to access healthy food. With funding from the New Orleans Fresh Food Retailer Initiative (FFRI)...

Bottino's is a family-run independent grocery chain in southern New Jersey. In the market for a new location to replace their small and obsolete Vineland supermarket, they found property located on a blighted commercial corridor which led into Vineland’s historic downtown area. Officials recognized that a new supermarket at this location could catalyze the revitalization of this area of the...

The Healthy Neighborhood Store project (HNS) in Omaha, Nebraska is working to improve access to healthy food for the one-third of Douglas County residents by partnering with small neighborhood stores to improve healthy food offerings and support community health. HNS is working with 10 stores ranging in size from three to 45 employees, and reaching 50,000 low-income Omaha residents. As a...

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...

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...

Common Market is a regional food hub in Philadelphia, PA. Their mission is to strengthen regional farms by connecting farmers to over 150 public and private institutions. This profile includes project highlights and impacts.

Green City Growers Cooperative (GCGC) is a cooperative urban greenhouse in the heart of Cleveland, Ohio. GCGC provides an example of an innovative and employee-owned food production enterprise that is revitalizing Cleveland’s Central neighborhood while providing quality employment opportunities, building community wealth and assets, and promoting healthy food access both in the neighborhood...

In 2014, Congress passed the Farm Bill establishing the federal Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) program at USDA and authorizing up to $125 million for the program. Read the final bill language here.

A Practitioner’s Guide for Advancing Health Equity: Community Strategies for Preventing Chronic Disease provides lessons learned and innovative ideas on how to maximize the effects of policy, systems and environmental improvement strategies—all with the goal of reducing health disparities and advancing health equity. 

The "Maximizing Healthy Food and Beverage Strategies to Advance Health...