Legislation to decrease food deserts, specifically in inner cities, overcame its first hurdle in the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee. The Healthy Food Financing Act, sponsored by Senator Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga), would establish a statewide program to increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables in underserved communities.

Today, 8 percent of farms control over 40 percent of all U.S. farmland. The average American farm is now over 400 acres, (compared to 150 acres in 1940) and that number increases every year as smaller farms buckle under the weight of the capital-intensive industrial agricultural model. We need to mobilize more money than the public or private sectors have so far been willing to spend to acquire farmland for collective stewardship.

Seaboard Foods Corp. confirmed it is finalizing a $100 million economic development package to upgrade the company's pork processing facility in Guymon, Oklahoma. Under the economic agreement of the Seaboard Project Plan, Guymon Public School District will receive a $220,000 annual payment from incremental revenues generated in the TIF district. Renovations to the city's wastewater treatment facility and lagoons that Seaboard uses will be funded by tax increment notes.

What started as a small microfinance organization in Bangladesh in the 1970s focusing on services for the rural poor has since expanded to more than 2,500 branches worldwide, including its newest location in Fresno, CA. Grameen America focuses on providing low-income women microloans to help establish or expand their businesses, including a lot of food-related startups.

The Farmland Access Hub helps beginning farmers seeking land in Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin through farmland literacy workshops, in-depth trainings, and specialized technical assistance including consultation with legal and financial advisers.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office is opening a review of President Donald Trump's $28 billion bailouts for farmers harmed by his trade war. There are complaints that the money was mismanaged and allocated unfairly. The investigation originated from concerns that the aid program favored large and foreign agriculture companies over small farms.

CDFA // BNY Mellon Development Finance Webcast Series: To TIF or Not to TIF?
Tuesday, March 17, 2020 - 1:00 PM Eastern

Intro Tax Credit Finance WebCourse
March 25-26, 2020 - Daily: 12-5pm (Eastern)

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Localized food systems are being developed in communities across the country in order to strengthen local economies, increase entrepreneurship, address social issues, and lessen environmental impacts. At the same time, many places are expanding access to capital and financing programs for those with historically limited access - including people of color, women, immigrants, and low-income populations. During this webinar, supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, we will hear from speakers working in Detroit, Michigan to correct this inequity through the support and financing of food-related businesses and projects.

While the discourse on rural America following the Great Recession has revolved around the resulting lack of jobs and loss of services, the lack of startups and entrepreneurial activity in these communities should not be ignored. Firm growth is a crucial part of economic development, and business creation has been critical in the aftermath of previous recessions. But policies geared toward encouraging startups have not been effective in rural areas, leading to a growing regional divide.

CALED knows from its work supporting economic development throughout California that infrastructure financing is a challenge for many rural communities. CALED collaborated with CDFA to develop this guidebook to meet the need for a resource to help build capacity in those areas, as well as move economic development projects forward.

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