Food deserts

We've heard a bit about "food deserts" here in Eastern Iowa. The following came today about an effort to combat the problem in New York:

Washington, DC – To help approximately four million New Yorkers living in so-called “food desert” neighborhoods that have little or no access to fresh, nutritious foods, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today joined Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer to launch the Healthy Food Financing Initiative. With food insecurity and obesity rates on the rise, Senator Gillibrand's new legislation would invest $1 billion through loans and grants to help build approximately 2,100 new grocery stores and farmer's markets across the country, including an estimated 357 stores in New York State. The legislation would create an estimated 200,000 new jobs nationally, including an estimated 34,000 in New York State.  President Obama has already dedicated $345 million in his FY2011 budget for a similar proposal.

To combat rising rates of obesity and food insecurity, the Healthy Food Financing Initiative would provide start-up grant and loan investments in some of the most marginalized rural and urban communities in order to expand access to fresh food and create sustainable, good-paying jobs. Senator Gillibrand is working on the legislation in coordination with First Lady Michelle Obama, who included the initiative as part of her “Let's Move” agenda to combat childhood obesity.

“Obesity and diabetes rates are reaching crisis proportions in our country and it is time to take aggressive action,” said Senator Gillibrand, who, as the first New Yorker to serve on the Senate Agriculture Committee in nearly 40 years, is helping lead the fight in the Senate to combat child obesity and promote good health.  “Millions of New Yorkers do not have access to fresh, healthy food.  By building new grocery stores in underserved areas across the state we can give people the opportunity to live longer, healthier lives, save billions in health care costs, and create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs.  I am proud to work with President Obama and First Lady Michele Obama on their efforts to combat obesity in America.  We cannot back down from this fight.”

The Food Desert Problem

Residents in many low-income communities lack consistent and reasonable access to nutritious and non-processed food. In both rural and urban communities throughout the state, a lack of access to healthy food can create large hindrances to maintaining a nutritious diet. These high need communities have been called “food deserts” because of the relative lack of healthy and fresh options. 

This is especially concerning in light of the exploding rates of obesity, diabetes and heart illness across the nation.  

• Obesity – According to the National Center for Health Statistics, more than 34 percent of American adults are obese. In 2008, CDC estimated that 24.4% of New York adults were obese. A recent report by the Centers for Disease and Control estimates that obesity creates nearly $150 billion a year in increased healthcare costs and lost productivity for our nation.
• Diabetes – In 2007, the American Diabetic Association estimated that 23.6 million people, or 7.8% of the US population, had diabetes. An estimated 530,000 New York City residents have been diagnosed with diabetes, and an additional estimated 260,000 may have diabetes but not know it, according to the NYS Department of Health.  According to the American Diabetes Association, the total cost of diabetes for people in New York State is estimated at nearly $13 billion. This estimate includes excess medical costs of nearly $9 billion attributed to diabetes, and lost productivity valued at over $4 billion. 
• Cardiovascular illness – According to the American Heart Association, cardiovascular illness is the leading cause of death in America. The NYS DOH estimates cardiovascular illness kills 70,000 New Yorkers a year. In 2006, 22,000 New York City residents died from heart disease and an additional 1,700 from strokes.   

The USDA has found that 23.5 million people in America lack access to a supermarket within a mile of their home. According to the New York City Department of City Planning, approximately 4 million New Yorkers live in high need neighborhoods that lack reliable access to fresh and healthy food.

The Healthy Food Financing Initiative

Modeled after a highly successful program in Pennsylvania, the Healthy Food Financing Initiative would give priority to states and localities that have already begun efforts to build new grocery stores in food desert areas. New York City and State are well positioned to begin receiving funds almost immediately. Under the leadership of Mayor Bloomberg and Speaker Quinn, New York City recently enacted zoning and land-use changes designed to encourage the development of fresh food retail. New York State has contracted a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) to administer $10 million in loans and grants for new grocery stores.

The CDFI will work with local and state partners in order to identify areas in need of healthy food options, and support projects to bring fresh food to those areas. The projects will be financed through a mix of loans and one-time grants to help businesses start up or expand their operations. While exact amounts may vary, grants will likely range from $30,000 up to $250,000, and loans will range from $50,000 to $5 million.

The legislation sets requirements for the types of projects that are eligible for funding. The legislation also defines underserved areas as those areas which are located in low or moderate income census tracts, and are poorly served by fresh food retail. Minority and female owned businesses will be given priority in funding, along with projects that would provide wages and benefits equal or better to that of comparable businesses in the same area and include local hiring agreements.

Jobs and Community Development

The

Healthy Food Financing Initiative will create and retain hundreds and thousands of jobs at a cost of just over $5,000 per job. An analysis by The Reinvestment Fund (TRF), the Community Development Financial Institution in Pennsylvania, estimates that a $2 billion ($1 billion government/$1 billion private matching funds) program would create over 2,128 grocery store projects in underserved communities across the nation; provide healthy food access for over 15 million people; and create almost 90,000 direct, long-term, full-time equivalent jobs and nearly 100,000 new construction jobs.