House Bill 798, “The Bennie L. Turner Healthy Food Retail Act,” is currently in Conference in the Mississippi Legislature.
In addition to developing quality food retail outlets, this bill is intended to create jobs, expand markets for Mississippi farmers, and support economic vitality in underserved communities.
More specifically, this bill would:
- Establish a program that would provide grants and loans to healthy food retailers;
- Allow the Mississippi Development Authority to partner with one or more Nonprofit organizations or Community Development Financial Institutions to administer the program described in the act; and
- Provide criteria that must be met for funding under the program.
Why Is this Important for Mississippi?
Studies have shown that rural communities face significant healthy food-access challenges. In one example from the Mississippi Delta, 75% of households that qualify for SNAP benefits must travel more than 30 miles to reach a large grocery store or supermarket.¹ Furthermore, adults living in rural Mississippi counties without supermarkets were 23% less likely to meet guidelines for daily fruit and vegetable consumption than adults living in counties with supermarkets.²
Similar Success in the Mid-South
This type of initiative has already taken root in New Orleans, LA where Hope Enterprise Corporation (HOPE), The Food Trust, and the City of New Orleans have partnered together to increase access to fresh foods in traditionally underserved neighborhoods in the City of New Orleans. The intent of The City of New Orleans’ Fresh Food Retailers Initiative program is to enable operators to open, renovate, or expand retail outlets that sell fresh fruits and vegetables, while also providing quality employment opportunities and serving as a catalyst for neighborhood revitalization.
*You can read more about HOPE’s work with the New Orleans Fresh Food Retailers Initiative here.
**For a more detailed discussion of studies on access to healthy food, see a joint research review published by PolicyLink and The Food Trust, The Grocery Gap: Who Has Access to Healthy Food and Why It Matters.
Author: Francinia McKeithan Henry, Policy Analyst/ SFAI Policy Fellow
