Bill Targets Food Deserts: Offers Tax Credits Up to 15% for New Grocers, Grants for Food Banks & Mobile Markets

This proposed legislation, the Healthy Food Access for All Americans Act, rolls out a plan to tackle 'food deserts' – areas lacking easy access to fresh food – using financial incentives. It establishes new tax credits and grants aimed specifically at getting grocery stores, food banks, and even mobile markets set up and operating in these underserved communities. The core idea is to make it financially more attractive for businesses and non-profits to bring healthy options where they're needed most.

Dollars and Cents for Fresh Food Access

So, how does it work on the ground? The bill offers a couple of key financial carrots:

• For Grocery Stores: If a certified provider opens a new grocery store in a designated food desert, they could get a tax credit. This credit is capped at the lesser of their allocated amount or 15% of the store's basis (think property and equipment costs). Renovating an existing space to sell groceries in a food desert? That could earn a 10% credit on renovation expenses.
• For Food Banks: Non-profits building permanent food banks in these areas could receive grants covering 15% of their qualified construction costs.
• For Mobile & Temporary Options: Recognizing that a full store isn't always feasible, the bill also supports 'temporary access merchants.' This includes mobile markets bringing produce to neighborhoods or farmers markets setting up shop. These providers could get annual grants covering 10% of their operational costs for up to 10 years.

To get these benefits, providers need to be certified as a 'Special Access Food Provider.' This involves meeting criteria set by the Secretary (likely Treasury, coordinating with USDA), proving they're located in a food desert (defined using census data on distance, poverty, and income), and meeting certain standards like those in the Healthy Food Financing Initiative.

The Fine Print: Rules, Recaptures, and Refinements

There are some important details and guardrails. First, not every food seller qualifies. A 'grocery store' under this act needs to make at least 35% of its annual sales from specific 'groceries' like fresh produce, meat, dairy, etc. Also, farmers markets already receiving other USDA grant funding can't double-dip and get certified under this program.

Crucially, these incentives aren't a blank check. If a store, food bank, or market gets the credit or grant but then fails to meet the requirements within a 5-year period (maybe it closes, stops selling enough fresh food, or moves out of the food desert), the government can 'recapture' – basically, take back – the financial benefit. This aims to ensure the investment leads to sustained food access.

Finally, the bill requires the USDA to update its Food Access Research Atlas annually. This map helps identify food deserts, and keeping it current ensures the program targets the right areas as communities change.

Overall, the act creates a targeted financial toolkit designed to encourage the physical presence of healthy food options in places currently lacking them, using tax policy and grants to bridge the economic gap.