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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Dwight Evans |
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EVANS LAUDS PRESIDENT/FIRST LADY
FOR BOLD PUSH TO PROMOTE FOOD ACCESS
PA Fresh Food Financing Initiative among those studied by White House
PHILADELPHIA (January 25) – Pennsylvania’s Fresh Food Financing Initiative, a pioneering public policy program lauded by Harvard University, major foundations and leading members of the press, continues to draw national attention, even more so now that the President and Mrs. Obama are touting the importance of communities having access to quality fresh food.
"For the last several months, we have had great opportunities to explain the success of the Fresh Food Financing Initiative to the White House and to Congress," said state Rep. Dwight Evans, who used his role as House Appropriations Chairman to create the program in 2005. "The President and Mrs. Obama have made food access part of our national dialogue, particularly through their remarks last week at the U.S. Conference of Mayors."
In separate speeches, the President and First Lady talked about the importance of making sure underserved communities have access to quality fresh food. President Obama talked about access to fresh food as part of a broader economic strategy in a community, while First Lady Michelle Obama spoke about the connection between healthy food choices as part of an effort to combat the nation’s epidemic of childhood obesity.
The PA Fresh Food Financing Initiative is a public/private partnership seeded with $30 million from Pennsylvania that was leveraged by The Reinvestment Fund to create a $120 million statewide initiative. Evans was the driving force behind the creation of the program which is a partnership of The Reinvestment Fund, The Food Trust and the Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition.
"At a time when we are rightly concerned about jobs and the rising cost of health care, a national fresh food financing initiative makes for good public policy," said Jeremy Nowak, president and chief executive officer of The Reinvestment Fund. "In Pennsylvania, grants, loan guarantees, and New Market Tax Credits, matched with private investment, are having a dramatic effect on improving access to healthy foods."
Pennsylvania’s Fresh Food Financing Initiative is a model for several other state programs, including one in New York; has twice been named one of the nation’s premier public policy programs by Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government; and often is cited as a model program by such organizations as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The goal of the FFFI is simple: to develop grocery stores in underserved urban and rural communities where access to quality fresh fruits, vegetables and meats is limited; often times, residents have no choice but to shop in high-priced convenience stores or to buy meals at fast food restaurants.
"It makes sense for our state and our nation to have a policy about food access that is coherent," Evans said. "The challenges are combating obesity, particularly in children; creating jobs and transforming communities."
"We applaud the Obama Administration's strong support for public policies that encourage the development of supermarkets in underserved communities and help prevent childhood obesity," said Yael Lehmann, executive director of The Food Trust. "For several months now, PolicyLink, The Food Trust and The Reinvestment Fund have been working together on a campaign that promotes the national replication of Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative, which was developed with the critical support of Representative Dwight Evans. Initiatives like these help ensure that our nation’s children will grow up healthy and strong."
As of September 2010, FFFI committed $59.7 million in grants and loans to 78 food market projects across the state, ranging in size from 1,000 to 69,000 square feet. In total, these projects are expected to preserve or create 4,860 jobs and more than 1.5 million square feet of fresh food retail space across Pennsylvania.
FFFI has been used to support grocery stores in the following counties: Adams, Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Blair, Bradford, Berks, Bucks, Cambria, Carbon, Chester, Columbia, Dauphin, Delaware, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne, Northumberland, Philadelphia, Somerset, Schuylkill, Tioga, Washington, Westmoreland and York.
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CONTACT: Johnna A. Pro Phone: 717-783-8024 Cell: 717-798-6927 Email: japro@hacd.net
Barbara Fellencer Phone: 717-772-3353 Email: bfellencer@hacd.net |
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