The new Healthy Food for Ohio Program has been launched to direct millions of dollars in public and private funding to new and remodeled stores selling fresh produce in low-income and underserved areas. The program aims to provide fresh and healthy foods in areas with no grocery stores or other outlets.
State lawmakers included about $2 million in the last biennial budget as part of the effort, and organizers hope to help 10-15 store projects around the state. Grocery chains and independent stores, farmers markets and co-ops and other types of businesses selling fresh produce are eligible for funding.
“The HFFO program aims to increase access to affordable, fresh food in underserved areas, improve the diets of Ohioans and spur economic development and revitalization,” said Diana Turoff, president and chief executive officer of the Finance Fund Capital Corp., the nonprofit that is administering the program.
Caroline Harries, associate director of The Food Trust, a national nonprofit that focuses on food access issues, said nearly 1 million Ohioans live in areas that have inadequate access to healthy food sources and higher death rates from diet-related disease.
“In these communities, it may actually be a whole lot easier to find a grape soda to find a bunch of fresh gapes,” she said, adding later, “We know that living closer to a grocery store can help improve diet, and it makes common sense. It’s difficult to eat healthily if you don’t have access to healthy foods, fresh fruit, in your neighborhood.”
Source: auroraadvocate.com
