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. PIN-
GREE 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 Agri-
culture a Healthy Food Financing Initiative. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Healthy Food Financ-
ing Initiative’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
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(1)(A) the United States faces an obesity epi-
demic in which 30.5 percent of children ages 10 
through 17 are overweight or obese; 
(B) the obesity epidemic contributes to increas-
ing rates of chronic illness, including diabetes, heart 
disease, and cancer; and 
(C) the obesity epidemic cost the United States 
$147,000,000 in medical expenses in 2008, and this 
cost is expected to rise in the future; 
(2) the Reinvestment Fund estimates that al-
most 25,000,000 people in the United States live in 
low-income communities with limited access to su-
permarkets and grocery stores; 
(3) more than 130 studies show that— 
(A) access to healthy food is particularly a 
problem in hundreds of low-income, rural, and 
urban communities, as well as communities of 
color in the United States; and 
(B) the opportunity to access healthy food 
is linked to lower levels of obesity, diabetes, and 
other food-related chronic illnesses, leading to 
better health outcomes; 
(4)(A) children from low-income families are 
twice as likely to be overweight as children from 
higher income families; and 
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(B) African-American and Hispanic children 
are more likely than Caucasian children to be obese; 
(5) studies show that when healthy foods are 
available, people will increase consumption of fruits 
and vegetables; 
(6) leading public health experts, including the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 
American Heart Association, the Institute of Medi-
cine, and the American Public Health Association, 
agree that providing improved access to super-
markets and grocery stores is needed to improve 
public health and prevent obesity; 
(7) developing high-quality fresh food retail out-
lets creates jobs, expands markets for agricultural 
producers in the United States, and supports eco-
nomic vitality in underserved communities; 
(8)(A) supermarkets and grocery stores often 
face barriers to opening stores in food deserts; 
(B) the supermarket industry operates on an 
historically thin profit margin; 
(C) according to the 2011 National Grocers As-
sociation Independent Grocers Survey, the average 
net profit margin before taxes for independent gro-
cers in 2010 was 1.08 percent; 
(D) urban operators face barriers, including— 
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(i) increased real estate costs or limited 
availability of suitable commercial real estate in 
the community; 
(ii) increased employee training needs and 
costs; 
(iii) elevated security expenses; and 
(iv) often zoning restrictions; 
(E) supermarkets and grocery stores in rural 
food deserts also face barriers, including increased 
food delivery costs due to distance from distributers, 
dispersed customer base, and low volume; and 
(F) access to affordable capital is a significant 
problem for both rural and urban projects; 
(9) by providing seed capital and technical as-
sistance, the Federal Government, through time-lim-
ited investments, can— 
(A) attract private sector investment to 
create and retain much-needed jobs; and 
(B) provide long-term, sustainable solu-
tions to the decades-old problem of limited ac-
cess to healthy food in underserved, low-income 
urban and rural communities; and 
(10) legislation establishing a national fund 
modeled on the successful Pennsylvania Fresh Food 
Financing Initiative will help address the obesity epi-
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demic while also creating much-needed jobs and eco-
nomic revitalization, and solving the healthy food ac-
cess problem in hundreds of communities across the 
United States. 
SEC. 3. HEALTHY FOOD FINANCING INITIATIVE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title II of the De-
partment of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 
U.S.C. 6951 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 242. HEALTHY FOOD FINANCING INITIATIVE. 
‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to en-
hance the authorities of the Secretary to support efforts 
to provide access to healthy food by establishing an initia-
tive to improve access to healthy foods in underserved 
areas, to create and preserve quality jobs, and to revitalize 
low-income communities by providing loans and grants to 
eligible fresh, healthy food retailers to overcome the higher 
costs and initial barriers to entry in underserved areas. 
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FINANCIAL IN-
STITUTION.—The term ‘community development fi-
nancial institution’ has the meaning given the term 
in section 103 of the Community Development 
Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994 (12 
U.S.C. 4702). 
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‘‘(2) INITIATIVE.—The term ‘Initiative’ means 
the Healthy Food Financing Initiative established 
under subsection (c)(1). 
‘‘(3) NATIONAL
FUND
MANAGER.—The term 
‘national fund manager’ means a community devel-
opment financial institution that is— 
‘‘(A) in existence on the date of enactment 
of this section; and 
‘‘(B) certified by the Community Develop-
ment Financial Institution Fund of the Depart-
ment of Treasury to manage the Initiative for 
purposes of— 
‘‘(i) raising private capital; 
‘‘(ii) providing financial and technical 
assistance to partnerships; and 
‘‘(iii) funding eligible projects to at-
tract fresh, healthy food retailers to under-
served areas, in accordance with this sec-
tion. 
‘‘(4) PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘partnership’ 
means a regional, State, or local public-private part-
nership that— 
‘‘(A) is organized to improve access to 
fresh, healthy foods; 
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‘‘(B) provides financial and technical as-
sistance to eligible projects; and 
‘‘(C) meets such other criteria as the Sec-
retary may establish. 
‘‘(5) PERISHABLE FOOD.—The term ‘perishable 
food’ means a staple food that is fresh, refrigerated, 
or frozen. 
‘‘(6) QUALITY
JOB.—The term ‘quality job’ 
means a job that provides wages and other benefits 
comparable to, or better than, similar positions in 
existing businesses of similar size in similar local 
economies. 
‘‘(7) STAPLE FOOD.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘staple food’ 
means food that is a basic dietary item. 
‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘staple food’ 
includes— 
‘‘(i) bread; 
‘‘(ii) flour; 
‘‘(iii) fruits; 
‘‘(iv) vegetables; and 
‘‘(v) meat. 
‘‘(c) INITIATIVE.— 
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‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es-
tablish an initiative to achieve the purpose described 
in subsection (a) in accordance with this subsection. 
‘‘(2) IMPLEMENTATION.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—In carrying out 
the Initiative, the Secretary shall provide 
funding to entities with eligible projects, as 
described in subparagraph (B), subject to 
the priorities described in subparagraph 
(C). 
‘‘(ii) USE
OF
FUNDS.—Funds pro-
vided to an entity pursuant to clause (i) 
shall be used— 
‘‘(I) to create revolving loan pools 
of capital or other products to provide 
loans to finance eligible projects or 
partnerships; 
‘‘(II) to provide grants for eligi-
ble projects or partnerships; 
‘‘(III) to provide technical assist-
ance to funded projects and entities 
seeking Initiative funding; and 
‘‘(IV) to cover administrative ex-
penses of the national fund manager 
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in an amount not to exceed 10 per-
cent of the Federal funds provided. 
‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—Subject to the 
approval of the Secretary, the national fund 
manager shall establish eligibility criteria for 
projects under the Initiative, which shall include 
the existence or planned execution of agree-
ments— 
‘‘(i) to expand or preserve the avail-
ability of staple foods in underserved areas 
with moderate- and low-income populations 
by maintaining or increasing the number 
of retail outlets that offer an assortment of 
perishable food and staple food items, as 
determined by the Secretary, in those 
areas; and 
‘‘(ii) to accept benefits under the sup-
plemental nutrition assistance program es-
tablished under the Food and Nutrition 
Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.). 
‘‘(C) PRIORITIES.—In carrying out the Ini-
tiative, priority shall be given to projects that— 
‘‘(i) are located in severely distressed 
low-income communities, as defined by the 
Community Development Financial Insti-
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tutions Fund of the Department of Treas-
ury; and 
‘‘(ii) include 1 or more of the fol-
lowing characteristics: 
‘‘(I) The project will create or re-
tain quality jobs for low-income resi-
dents in the community. 
‘‘(II) The project supports re-
gional food systems and locally grown 
foods, to the maximum extent prac-
ticable. 
‘‘(III) In areas served by public 
transit, the project is accessible by 
public transit. 
‘‘(IV) 
The 
project 
involves 
women- or minority-owned businesses. 
‘‘(V) The project receives funding 
from other sources, including other 
Federal agencies. 
‘‘(VI) The project otherwise ad-
vances the purpose of this section, as 
determined by the Secretary. 
‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 
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out this section $125,000,000, to remain available until 
expended.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 296(b) of 
the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 
1994 (7 U.S.C. 7014(b)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 
end; 
(2) in paragraph (7), by striking the period at 
the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(8) the authority of the Secretary to establish 
and carry out the Health Food Financing Initiative 
under section 242.’’. 
Æ 
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