FOOD SECURITY PLANNING GRANT PROGRAM
The Food Security Planning Grant Program will competitively award grants ranging between $75,000 to $125,000 to municipal governments, county governments, and/or redevelopment agencies to improve food access and food security by leveraging distressed assets in New Jersey’s Food Desert Communities
PROGRAM DETAILS
To advance the goals of the Food Desert Relief Act (FDRA), part of the Economic Recovery Act of 2020, the EDA will use up to $1,500,000 in economic planning services funds to create a competitive planning grant program focused on leveraging distressed assets in designated Food Desert Communities (FDCs) in New Jersey to improve food access and food security.
For the Food Security Planning Grant program, a distressed asset is defined as a commercial building or series of buildings, its attachments, and appurtenances; or vacant land that is fully or partially vacant for at least one year, that due to deteriorated condition or appearance of its exterior (because of deferred maintenance such as deteriorated paint or overgrown vegetation, boarded up door and/or windows), that can be leveraged to improve food access and food security.
The Food Security Planning Grant Program is the Authority’s first pilot program as part of the Food Desert Relief Act, providing grants between $75,000 to $125,000 to fund development of plans to improve food access specifically within the newly designated FDCs. NJEDA can leverage the findings and outcomes from such local plans as a tool for developing and deploying future comprehensive food security initiatives and economic development across the state while equipping municipalities with the tools to think about how to repurpose distressed assets.