Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding and Community and Economic Development Secretary Dennis Davin announced last week that more than 100 state projects have received grants through Pennsylvania’s $10 million Fresh Food Financing Initiative.
Six of those projects were in Adams County, which received about $391,000 in total awards.
• Mi Campesina Mexican Store, Gettysburg: $17,290
• Kennie’s Markets, Inc.: $250,176
• Hubbard Family Ranch, LLC, Gardners: $15,000
• Adams County Farmers Market: $2,562
• Knouse Foods Cooperative, Inc., Orrtanna: $95,000
• Tanias Restaurant & Mexican Store, Gettysburg: $11,400
“There are three keys to food security — Is food available, is food affordable, and is food safe?” said Redding. “The Fresh Food Financing Initiative helps make ‘yes’ the answer to all three questions. This program has given us the ability to offset the costs food retailers have incurred in making fresh, nutritious food available while safeguarding their employees and customers.”
The Fresh Food Financing Initiative (FFFI) was funded at $10 million through the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and opened in July to for-profit, nonprofit, or cooperative entities including grocery stores, corner stores, convenience stores, neighborhood markets, bodegas, food hubs, mobile markets, farmers markets, on-farm markets, urban farms, and food aggregation centers with a direct connection to direct-to-consumer retail outlets.
To be eligible, more than 70 percent of sales were required to be from staple, perishable foods to consumers and the retailer must serve customers who live in a low-to-moderate income area. Applicants were also required to demonstrate limited food access as a result of COVID-19 or that direct-to-consumer retail expansion is necessary due to lost or disrupted markets. Eligible applicants were required to accept SNAP and WIC or have plans to accept them through completion of the project.
“The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the challenges that many Pennsylvanians face in accessing fresh, local food,” said Davin. “The Fresh Food Financing Initiative was developed to ensure that no one in our commonwealth will struggle to fill their pantry and the food supply chain will remain stable, whether during a crisis, emergency, or during times of normalcy.”
“It is important to keep residents of the commonwealth safe and informed. COVID-19 has disproportionately affected the Latino community, placing this population at a greater disadvantage,” said Luz B. Colón, executive director to the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs. “Programs like the Fresh Food Financing Initiative help secure food resources to our minority communities and ensure that it will reach the families that need it the most.”
Charles (Chuck) Stangor is Gettysburg Connection's Owner, Publisher, and Editor in Chief. I would like to hear from you. Please contact me at cstangor@gettysburgconnection.org.