The New Jersey Innovative Healthy Food Retail Initiative (“the Initiative”) supports community-led, innovative food retail projects that improve access to healthy food and promote economic growth in low-income, underserved areas of New Jersey.
Donor Name: Reinvestment Fund
State: New Jersey
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 10/21/2024
Size of the Grant: $100,000 to $500,000
Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned
Details:
This initiative will provide up to $1,500,000 for grants and technical assistance. Grant awards may be up to $200,000 each based on project type, need, and impact. Approximately 5-10 grants to eligible projects will be awarded.
Grant funding is intended to be a one-time investment that will support innovative business models that either process, distribute, aggregate, market, or sell healthy, fresh, and affordable foods to underserved communities and markets in New Jersey.
Eligible Project Types
To be eligible for this initiative, applicants must propose a project that demonstrates the following criteria:
- Introduce and/or expand existing and innovative food retail models in New Jersey that improve access to affordable, healthy foods. Eligible models should be outside of a traditional full-service grocery store format and may be based on promising models piloted elsewhere in New Jersey or other states and show potential for food access solutions.
- These models may be nonprofit, for-profit, or cooperatively owned ventures; operate as a brick and mortar, mobile market, e-commerce platform, or pop-up; may employ unique approaches to procurement, distribution, delivery, or shopping; may prioritize local food procurement and support local food systems; and to the maximum extent possible prioritize equity and inclusion through ownership and employment.
- Examples of innovative models may include but not limited to community or municipality-owned stores, mobile markets, community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs, retailers offering nutrition incentives, community discount or Food is Medicine programs, self-service stores, SNAP or WIC focused stores, and community farms with a retail component. Other examples and insights of innovations in healthy food retail enterprises can be found in this 2020 report from the Wallace Center here.
- Plans to expand or preserve the availability of staple and perishable foods in underserved urban and rural areas with (LMI) populations.
- All retail projects must accept or plan to accept benefits under Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) established under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 USC 2011 et. Seq.) and/or Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). If your project is a food supply chain enterprise, your project must serve clients that accept or plan to accept SNAP and/or WIC.
Eligibility Criteria
Due to the significant disparities in food access across New Jersey, to be considered for the Initiative, interested applicants must propose a healthy food retail project in an eligible underserved community. An eligible project will expand or preserve the availability of an assortment of staple and perishable foods in communities experiencing higher rates of hunger and poverty and historically limited access to fresh, affordable foods.
To be determined eligible for the Initiative, your project must:
- Serve a low to moderate income area with a median family income equal to or below 80% of median local income levels.
- Serve a Low Supermarket Access (LSA) area or be in a New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) designated Food Desert Community.
For more information, visit Reinvestment Fund.
