Searching for Markets: The Geography of Inequitable Access to Healthy & Affordable Food in the United States Finding and financing opportunities that others miss.™ The CDFI Fund invests in and builds the capacity of community-based, private, for-profit and non-profit financial institutions with a primary mission of community development in economically distressed communities. These institutions – certified by the CDFI Fund as community development financial institutions or CDFIs – are able to respond to gaps in local markets that traditional financial institutions are not adequately serving. CDFIs provide critically needed capital, credit and other financial products in addition to technical assistance to community residents and businesses, service providers, and developers working to meet community needs. For more information about the CDFI Fund and its programs, please visit the Fund’s website at: http://www.cdfifund.gov. About the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund’s Financing Healthy Food Options Track The CDFI Fund is providing training and technical assistance to CDFIs that are engaged in, or wish to become engaged in, healthy food financing activities. The CDFI Fund is offering a series of training workshops focused on the key elements of financing healthy food projects. There will be a total of eight training sessions held throughout the country in 2011 and 2012, with three different healthy food finance tracks offered: 1) farms and food production; 2) mid-tier food chain enterprises (e.g., food aggregation; food processing; food distribution); and 3) food retailers. At each session, trainers with practical experience and expertise will lead participants to drill down into the specific fundraising, underwriting, and loan management skills required for successful healthy food projects in low-income communities. CDFIs that complete the training are eligible to receive, at no cost, up to 40 hours of individual technical assistance from subject matter experts. In addition, the following free resources are available through the Capacity Building Initiative website to workshop attendees and non-attendees: • National Demand for Healthy Food Options Report: A robust, in-depth study of areas with low access to healthy foods in low income communities across the country. • Financial Resources Catalogue: Primary public and private sources of financing available to CDFIs to finance healthy foods initiatives. • Training Curriculum: A series of original training curriculum that showcases best practices and case studies in successful healthy food financing. • Food Desert Mapping Tools. Mapping tools designed to help practitioners understand where low food access areas exist in their communities. Searching for Markets: The Geography of Inequitable Access to Healthy & Affordable Food in the United States i Opportunity Finance Network (OFN), the leading network of private financial institutions, creates growth that is good for communities, investors, individuals, and the economy. Members of OFN are community development financial institutions (CDFIs) that deliver responsible lending to help low-wealth and low-income communities join the economic mainstream. More information is available at: www.opportunityfinance.net. TRF is a national leader in rebuilding America’s distressed towns and cities and does this work through the innovative use of capital and information. TRF has invested $1 billion in mid-Atlantic communities since 1985. As a CDFI, TRF finances projects related to housing, community facilities, food access, commercial real estate, and energy efficiency. It also provides public-policy expertise by helping clients create practical solutions and by sharing data and analyses via PolicyMap. Beginning with the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative (FFFI) in 2004, TRF has developed a comprehensive approach to improving the food landscape in low-income, underserved communities. As principal manager of FFFI, TRF secured nearly $150 million in private and public capital to match a $30 million seed investment from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Since then, TRF has financed 93 projects to increase access to healthy food across the state, with funds expended totaling over $100 million. These projects have created or retained more than 5,500 jobs and 1.85 million square feet of retail space for healthy food. TRF’s financing successes have become the model for related projects in several states, as well as for the Obama administration’s national Healthy Food Financing Initiative. ii Letter from CDFI Fund I am pleased to present a new research report focused on healthy food accessibility across the country. The Searching for Markets: The Geography of Inequitable Access to Healthy & Affordable Food in the United States report is the result of in-depth research and evaluation of “Limited Supermarket Access” areas, or LSAs. Over 24 million people live in these areas, eight percent of the total U.S. population, and as a result they must travel significantly farther to reach a supermarket than those living in communities with easier access to grocery stores. This report was produced for the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund’s (CDFI Fund) Capacity Building Initiative, which provides training and technical assistance to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) on current and emerging issues. Under the initiative a sub-series on Financing Healthy Food Options was offered. The Reinvestment Fund, as part of a contract with the Opportunity Finance Network (the series’ lead contractor) designed the study to help investors and CDFIs identify areas with both inadequate access to healthy food and sufficient market demand for food retail across the United States. The report provides important findings, such as the greater likelihood of LSA residents being low- income and of a minority race. These two groups have always been priorities for the CDFI Fund’s programs, underscoring how all aspects of a community’s development, from where its residents work and shop to wear they buy their groceries, are viable starting points for investments in struggling neighborhoods. The report also serves as a valuable tool for CDFIs interested in healthy food lending opportunities in low-income communities, providing important information about LSA area market characteristics. It ties in handily with the other resources provided by the Financing Healthy Food Options series, available on the CDFI Fund’s website. The CDFI Fund is committed to expanding the capacity of CDFIs engaged in healthy food lending in low-income communities. Whether it is through our competitive award programs or through the training and technical assistance offered under the Capacity Building Initiative, we are actively working to support CDFIs’ healthy food lending efforts. I hope this report provides yet more valuable information for CDFIs engaged in healthy food lending. For more information about the Capacity Building Initiative, and the CDFI Fund’s other programs, please visit our website at www.cdfifund.gov. Sincerely, Donna J. Gambrell Director, CDFI Fund Searching for Markets: The Geography of Inequitable Access to Healthy & Affordable Food in the United States iii Table of Contents List of Tables, Maps and Figures v Executive Summary 1 Section I: Introduction 5 Section II: Literature Review 7 Section III: Methodology for Identifying Limited 11 Supermarket Access (LSA) Areas Section IV: Results 27 Conclusion 51 Appendices 59 Appendix 1: Store Categorizations and Descriptions as 59 Defined by Trade Dimensions Appendix 2: Leakage Diagram 61 Appendix 3: Detailed LSA Results by Geography 63 Appendix 4: Financing Healthy Food Options: 91 Implementation Handbook Searching for Markets: The Geography of Inequitable Access to Healthy & Affordable Food in the United States iv List of Tables & Maps and Figures Tables in Main Text Table 1: 2011 Retail Grocery Characteristics by Store 13 Category (as defined by Trade Dimensions) Table 2: Characteristics of Each Category of Population Density and Car 15 Ownership Table 3: Benchmark Distance to Nearest Supermarket 19 Table 4: Block Group Counts by Access Score and by LSA Clusters 21 Table 5: National Results of LSA Areas by Census Core-Based Statistical 28 Area Designations Table 6: LSA Figures by State 29 Table 7: LSA Figures for Top 10 Cities with Populations of More Than 500,000 30 Table 8: LSA Figures for Top 10 Cities with Populations Between 250,000 31 and 500,000 Table 9: LSA Figures for Top 10 Cities with Populations Between 32 100,000 and 250,000 Table 10: LSA Figures for Top 10 Cities with Population Between 50,000 33 and 100,000 Table 11A: LSA Figures for Top 10 Cities with Populations Less 34 Than 50,000 Table 11B: LSA Figures for Middle 10 Cities with Population Less 34 Than 50,000 Table 11C: LSA Figures for Bottom 10 Cities with Population Less 34 Than 50,000 Table 12: LSA Figures for Major Metro Areas with Population Greater 35 Than 1,000,000 Table 13: LSA Figures for Metro Areas with Population Between 500,000 36 and 1,000,000 Table 14: LSA Figures for Metro Area with Populations Between 250,000 37 and 500,000 Table 15: LSA Figures for Metro Areas Populations Less Than 250,000 38 Table 16: LSA Figures for Micropolitan Areas 39 Table 17: Likelihood of Living in an LSA Area by Race, Ethnicity, 40 Age and City Size Searching for Markets: The Geography of Inequitable Access to Healthy & Affordable Food in the United States v Table 18: LSA Areas in the U.S. by Leakage Categories 42 Table