I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2343 

To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to 

establish in the Department of Agriculture a Healthy Food Financing 

Initiative. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 12, 2013 

Ms. SCHWARTZ (for herself, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. BLUMENAUER, and Ms. PINGREE of Maine) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization 

Act of 1994 to establish in the Department of Agriculture a Healthy Food Financing Initiative. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Healthy Food Financ5 ing Initiative’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

2 

•HR 2343 IH

1 (1)(A) the United States faces an obesity epi2 demic in which 30.5 percent of children ages 10 

3 through 17 are overweight or obese; 

4 (B) the obesity epidemic contributes to increas5 ing rates of chronic illness, including diabetes, heart 

6 disease, and cancer; and 

7 (C) the obesity epidemic cost the United States 

8 $147,000,000 in medical expenses in 2008, and this 

9 cost is expected to rise in the future; 

10 (2) the Reinvestment Fund estimates that al11 most 25,000,000 people in the United States live in 

12 low-income communities with limited access to su13 permarkets and grocery stores; 

14 (3) more than 130 studies show that— 

15 (A) access to healthy food is particularly a 

16 problem in hundreds of low-income, rural, and 

17 urban communities, as well as communities of 

18 color in the United States; and 

19 (B) the opportunity to access healthy food 

20 is linked to lower levels of obesity, diabetes, and 

21 other food-related chronic illnesses, leading to 

22 better health outcomes; 

23 (4)(A) children from low-income families are 

24 twice as likely to be overweight as children from 

25 higher income families; and 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

3 

•HR 2343 IH

1 (B) African-American and Hispanic children 

2 are more likely than Caucasian children to be obese; 

3 (5) studies show that when healthy foods are 

4 available, people will increase consumption of fruits 

5 and vegetables; 

6 (6) leading public health experts, including the 

7 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 

8 American Heart Association, the Institute of Medi9 cine, and the American Public Health Association, 

10 agree that providing improved access to super11 markets and grocery stores is needed to improve 

12 public health and prevent obesity; 

13 (7) developing high-quality fresh food retail out14 lets creates jobs, expands markets for agricultural 

15 producers in the United States, and supports eco16 nomic vitality in underserved communities; 

17 (8)(A) supermarkets and grocery stores often 

18 face barriers to opening stores in food deserts; 

19 (B) the supermarket industry operates on an 

20 historically thin profit margin; 

21 (C) according to the 2011 National Grocers As22 sociation Independent Grocers Survey, the average 

23 net profit margin before taxes for independent gro24 cers in 2010 was 1.08 percent; 

25 (D) urban operators face barriers, including— 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

4 

•HR 2343 IH

1 (i) increased real estate costs or limited 

2 availability of suitable commercial real estate in 

3 the community; 

4 (ii) increased employee training needs and 

5 costs; 

6 (iii) elevated security expenses; and 

7 (iv) often zoning restrictions; 

8 (E) supermarkets and grocery stores in rural 

9 food deserts also face barriers, including increased 

10 food delivery costs due to distance from distributers, 

11 dispersed customer base, and low volume; and 

12 (F) access to affordable capital is a significant 

13 problem for both rural and urban projects; 

14 (9) by providing seed capital and technical as15 sistance, the Federal Government, through time-lim16 ited investments, can— 

17 (A) attract private sector investment to 

18 create and retain much-needed jobs; and 

19 (B) provide long-term, sustainable solu20 tions to the decades-old problem of limited ac21 cess to healthy food in underserved, low-income 

22 urban and rural communities; and 

23 (10) legislation establishing a national fund 

24 modeled on the successful Pennsylvania Fresh Food 

25 Financing Initiative will help address the obesity epimstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

5 

•HR 2343 IH

1 demic while also creating much-needed jobs and eco2 nomic revitalization, and solving the healthy food ac3 cess problem in hundreds of communities across the 

4 United States. 

5 SEC. 3. HEALTHY FOOD FINANCING INITIATIVE. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title II of the De7 partment of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 

8 U.S.C. 6951 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

9 the following new section: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 242. HEALTHY FOOD FINANCING INITIATIVE. 

11 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to en12 hance the authorities of the Secretary to support efforts 

13 to provide access to healthy food by establishing an initia14 tive to improve access to healthy foods in underserved 

15 areas, to create and preserve quality jobs, and to revitalize 

16 low-income communities by providing loans and grants to 

17 eligible fresh, healthy food retailers to overcome the higher 

18 costs and initial barriers to entry in underserved areas. 

19 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 ‘‘(1) COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FINANCIAL IN21 STITUTION.—The term ‘community development fi22 nancial institution’ has the meaning given the term 

23 in section 103 of the Community Development 

24 Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994 (12 

25 U.S.C. 4702). 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

6 

•HR 2343 IH

1 ‘‘(2) INITIATIVE.—The term ‘Initiative’ means 

2 the Healthy Food Financing Initiative established 

3 under subsection (c)(1). 

4 ‘‘(3) NATIONAL FUND MANAGER.—The term 

5 ‘national fund manager’ means a community devel6 opment financial institution that is— 

7 ‘‘(A) in existence on the date of enactment 

8 of this section; and 

9 ‘‘(B) certified by the Community Develop10 ment Financial Institution Fund of the Depart11 ment of Treasury to manage the Initiative for 

12 purposes of— 

13 ‘‘(i) raising private capital; 

14 ‘‘(ii) providing financial and technical 

15 assistance to partnerships; and 

16 ‘‘(iii) funding eligible projects to at17 tract fresh, healthy food retailers to under18 served areas, in accordance with this sec19 tion. 

20 ‘‘(4) PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘partnership’ 

21 means a regional, State, or local public-private part22 nership that— 

23 ‘‘(A) is organized to improve access to 

24 fresh, healthy foods; 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

7 

•HR 2343 IH

1 ‘‘(B) provides financial and technical as2 sistance to eligible projects; and 

3 ‘‘(C) meets such other criteria as the Sec4 retary may establish. 

5 ‘‘(5) PERISHABLE FOOD.—The term ‘perishable 

6 food’ means a staple food that is fresh, refrigerated, 

7 or frozen. 

8 ‘‘(6) QUALITY JOB.—The term ‘quality job’ 

9 means a job that provides wages and other benefits 

10 comparable to, or better than, similar positions in 

11 existing businesses of similar size in similar local 

12 economies. 

13 ‘‘(7) STAPLE FOOD.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘staple food’ 

15 means food that is a basic dietary item. 

16 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘staple food’ 

17 includes— 

18 ‘‘(i) bread; 

19 ‘‘(ii) flour; 

20 ‘‘(iii) fruits; 

21 ‘‘(iv) vegetables; and 

22 ‘‘(v) meat. 

23 ‘‘(c) INITIATIVE.— 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

8 

•HR 2343 IH

1 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es2 tablish an initiative to achieve the purpose described 

3 in subsection (a) in accordance with this subsection. 

4 ‘‘(2) IMPLEMENTATION.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.— 

6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out 

7 the Initiative, the Secretary shall provide 

8 funding to entities with eligible projects, as 

9 described in subparagraph (B), subject to 

10 the priorities described in subparagraph 

11 (C). 

12 ‘‘(ii) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds pro13 vided to an entity pursuant to clause (i) 

14 shall be used— 

15 ‘‘(I) to create revolving loan pools 

16 of capital or other products to provide 

17 loans to finance eligible projects or 

18 partnerships; 

19 ‘‘(II) to provide grants for eligi20 ble projects or partnerships; 

21 ‘‘(III) to provide technical assist22 ance to funded projects and entities 

23 seeking Initiative funding; and 

24 ‘‘(IV) to cover administrative ex25 penses of the national fund manager 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

9 

•HR 2343 IH

1 in an amount not to exceed 10 per2 cent of the Federal funds provided. 

3 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—Subject to the 

4 approval of the Secretary, the national fund 

5 manager shall establish eligibility criteria for 

6 projects under the Initiative, which shall include 

7 the existence or planned execution of agree8 ments— 

9 ‘‘(i) to expand or preserve the avail10 ability of staple foods in underserved areas 

11 with moderate- and low-income populations 

12 by maintaining or increasing the number 

13 of retail outlets that offer an assortment of 

14 perishable food and staple food items, as 

15 determined by the Secretary, in those 

16 areas; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) to accept benefits under the sup18 plemental nutrition assistance program es19 tablished under the Food and Nutrition 

20 Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.). 

21 ‘‘(C) PRIORITIES.—In carrying out the Ini22 tiative, priority shall be given to projects that— 

23 ‘‘(i) are located in severely distressed 

24 low-income communities, as defined by the 

25 Community Development Financial Instimstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

10 

•HR 2343 IH

1 tutions Fund of the Department of Treas2 ury; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) include 1 or more of the fol4 lowing characteristics: 

5 ‘‘(I) The project will create or re6 tain quality jobs for low-income resi7 dents in the community. 

8 ‘‘(II) The project supports re9 gional food systems and locally grown 

10 foods, to the maximum extent prac11 ticable. 

12 ‘‘(III) In areas served by public 

13 transit, the project is accessible by 

14 public transit. 

15 ‘‘(IV) The project involves 

16 women- or minority-owned businesses. 

17 ‘‘(V) The project receives funding 

18 from other sources, including other 

19 Federal agencies. 

20 ‘‘(VI) The project otherwise ad21 vances the purpose of this section, as 

22 determined by the Secretary. 

23 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

24 is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

11 

•HR 2343 IH

1 out this section $125,000,000, to remain available until 

2 expended.’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 296(b) of 

4 the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 

5 1994 (7 U.S.C. 7014(b)) is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

7 end; 

8 (2) in paragraph (7), by striking the period at 

9 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

10 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

11 paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(8) the authority of the Secretary to establish 

13 and carry out the Health Food Financing Initiative 

14 under section 242.’’. 

Æ 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS