New CDFA Paper Released! Reframe, Build, and Plan to Restore America's Local Food Systems
CDFA just released the sixth and final publication of the CDFA Food Finance White Paper Series, Advancing Local Food Systems Through Development Finance! Research on food systems finance and leadership with pilot projects has positioned CDFA to identify three key strategies for a comprehensive approach for restoring America's local food systems. Every organization, community, economic development agency, and small business working in the food sector should adopt the Reframe, Build, Plan approach to expand financing and drive capital into the local food system.
CDFA Announces Collaboration with The Ohio State University's Initiative for Food and AgriCultural Transformation
The Council of Development Finance Agencies is honored to announce a collaboration with The Ohio State University's Initiative for Food and AgriCultural Transformation (InFACT) that will provide economic development finance planning services to facilitate new food systems throughout the State of Ohio. This approach will focus on using development finance tools – such as tax-exempt bonds, tax credits, and revolving loan funds – to meet infrastructure, agriculture, and small business needs in support of regional food system innovation.
Hard Truths From a Decade of Investing in Regional Food Systems
The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the inequities and fragility of our industrialized food system and accelerated the movement to create strong regional food systems that support local growers, provide food security, give communities agency over their food supply and yield environmental benefits. These systems will remain out of reach, though, unless we address persistent, decades-old structural issues.
What the New HEROES Act Would Mean for Restaurants
After months, Congress has again decided to negotiate a new federal economic relief package. House Democrats introduced their proposal, a new version of the HEROES Act. The $2.2 trillion proposal would provide another round of stimulus checks and increased unemployment benefits. In a new move, it would also incorporate $120 billion in grants for restaurants, bars, and food trucks.
Can Loans Tied to Soil Health Save Agriculture? A New $250M Fund Wants to Find Out
A new investment fund, rePlant Capital, has been formed to help clove the crisis with capitalism by tying interest rates for farm loans to improvements in soil's carbon and water storage as a way to save farmers from the disastrous impacts of climate change. The fund will deploy $250 million to farmers transitioning to regenerative or organic practices, with about $200 million of that going towards loans based on soil health metrics.
Pennsylvania Governor Awards $10M to Fund Access to Fresh Food, COVID-19 Mitigation Efforts in Low-Income Communities
The Fresh Food Financing Initiative (FFFI) was funded at $10M through the federal CARES Act and opened in July to for-profit, nonprofit, or cooperative entities including grocery stores, corner stores, convenience stores, neighborhood markets, bodegas, food hubs, mobile markets, farmers markets, on-farm markets, urban farms, and food aggregation centers with a direct connection to direct-to-consumer retail outlets.
Tennessee Awards $55M in Relief to Agriculture and Forestry Businesses
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and the Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) announced Coronavirus Agricultural and Forestry Business (CAFB) Fund awards to farm and forestry businesses. TDA established the CAFB Fund with CARES Act resources to help ensure stability of the food supply chain and agribusiness economy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
P3 Finances New Composting Facility in Prince William County, VA
A new facility just outside Manassas in Prince William County is expected to extend the life of the county's landfill for 15 years and more than double the county's yearly composting capability for food and yard waste. The new facility, which more than doubles the capacity of the already-running Freestate Farms composting site, is a public-private partnership built by the company on county land but financed by Freestate Farms.
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Reframe, Build, Plan: Restoring America's Local Food Systems
Thursday, October 29, 2020 - 1:00 PM Eastern
CDFA recently released the final publication of the CDFA Food Finance White Paper Series, Advancing Local Food Systems Through Development Finance. Join us for an overview of this publication as we review CDFA's framework for expanding traditional financing and attracting capital to local food systems through the Reframe, Build, Plan approach.
Intro Food Systems Finance WebCourse
December 9-10, 2020 - 12:00 - 5:00 PM Eastern
The Intro Food Systems Finance WebCourse examines the development finance programs that sustain a local food system and how investments in that system can drive economic development on a broader scale. Topics covered include federal, state, and local sources of capital, stakeholders involved in the financing process, and case study examples that showcase the variety of financing programs.
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