I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 484 
To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to make grants to States to support 
the establishment and operation of grocery stores in underserved commu-
nities, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 16, 2025 
Mr. CARSON (for himself, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, Mr. CASTEN, Mrs. 
CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Mr. COHEN, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mrs. 
DINGELL, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. GOLDMAN of New York, Ms. NORTON, 
Mr. HORSFORD, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. 
LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. LYNCH, Mrs. MCIVER, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. 
MRVAN, Mr. MULLIN, Ms. ROSS, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. SCHOLTEN, Mr. 
SOTO, Ms. STANSBURY, Ms. STEVENS, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. 
TONKO, Ms. TOKUDA, and Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to make grants to 
States to support the establishment and operation of 
grocery stores in underserved communities, and for other 
purposes. 
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 ‘‘Food Deserts Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM TO ESTABLISH GROCERY STORES 
IN UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT
OF GRANT PROGRAM.—The 
Secretary shall establish a program to provide capitaliza-
tion grants to States for the purpose of establishing re-
volving funds to support the establishment and operation 
of grocery stores in underserved communities. 
(b) ADMINISTRATION.—A State receiving funds 
under this Act shall administer the revolving fund of the 
State through an instrumentality of the State with such 
powers and limitations as may be required to operate such 
fund in accordance with the requirements of this Act. 
(c) PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES ELIGIBLE FOR AS-
SISTANCE.—Amounts in a revolving fund shall be used for 
the purpose of making loans— 
(1) to open a grocery store in an underserved 
community, except that such loan may not be used 
for the purpose of new construction; 
(2) to support the operations of an existing gro-
cery store in an underserved community; 
(3) to provide access to healthy food; or 
(4) to support the operations of a program par-
ticipant that is located in a community that would 
be an underserved community if the program partici-
pant was not located in such community. 
(d) GROCERY STORES ELIGIBLE FOR ASSISTANCE.— 
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(1) REQUIRED CRITERIA.—A State receiving a 
capitalization grant under this Act may only make 
a loan from the revolving fund of the State to an en-
tity that the State determines— 
(A) is a grocery store or will be a grocery 
store after opening; 
(B) emphasizes or will emphasize unproc-
essed, healthful foods; 
(C) provides or will provide a variety of 
raw fruits and vegetables; 
(D) provides or will provide staple foods; 
(E) has a plan to keep such foods in stock 
to the extent possible; 
(F) charge affordable at or below market 
values; 
(G) either— 
(i) is demonstrably qualified to oper-
ate a grocery store; or 
(ii) at the time of such application, 
has existing partnerships with organiza-
tions that provide technical assistance on 
business operations of food services; and 
(H) will match no less than 20 percent, 
from non-Federal funds, of the amount of such 
loan. 
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(2) 
PRIORITY
CRITERIA.—A 
State 
shall 
prioritize an application for a loan from the revolv-
ing fund of the State from an entity that the State 
determines— 
(A) hires or plans to hire workers who re-
side within the underserved community that 
would be served by the entity; 
(B) provides or plans to provide classes or 
other educational information about a healthful 
diet; 
(C) sources or plans to source food from 
local urban farms and gardens; and 
(D) demonstrates existing supply chain re-
lationships in the grocery industry. 
(e) APPLICATION.—An entity that desires a loan 
from a revolving fund of a State shall submit an applica-
tion to the State at such time, in such manner, and con-
taining such information as the State may require. 
(f) LOAN CONDITIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—A loan distributed from a 
revolving fund by a State may be used by a program 
participant only for the purposes specified in sub-
section (c). 
(2) INTEREST RATES.—A loan distributed by a 
State from a revolving fund— 
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