Grant will help Frenchtown group fight food insecurity

By St. Clair Murraine
Outlook Staff Writer

  Fighting food insecurity has been the mission of the Frenchtown Neighborhood Improvement Association since its inception, with the push of a farmers’ market. 

The organization plans to extend its reach by installing food kiosks in its Food Hub and two other locations. The move is being made possible by a $158,000 grant from the Department of Agriculture.

Negotiations will begin soon to locate kiosks inside the Standard apartment building, the city-owned Renaissance Center, said Jim Bellamy, director of the Frenchtown Neighborhood Improvement Association. 

“We want to increase our food security in our area,” Bellamy said.

Fighting food insecurity is one of the main reasons that the Department of Agriculture provided the grant through America’s Healthy Food Financing Initiative. The Frenchtown Food Hub, which is located at the intersection of Georgia Street and MLK Blvd, is one of 134 projects that received a total of $22.6 million in financial assistance, according to a HUD release.

“It’s very significant because it’s for neighborhoods like ours that have food insecurity,” Bellamy said of the grant. “It’s really something that’s very beneficial to the community.”

Funding for the grant is administered by Reinvestment Fund, a national fund management company. The Frenchtown Food Hub was one of 359 initial applicants, which were dwindled down to 294 that filed in March before the final cut, which was announced earlier this month.

The Frenchtown organization is a perfect candidate to receive funding, Don Hinkle-Brown, President and CEO of Reinvestment Fund, said in a statement.

“The legacy of racist policies like redlining and the resulting disinvestment continue to harm communities in so many ways, including through the lack of access to healthy, affordable food,” said Hinkle-Brown. “We are honored to work with the USDA to address some of these historical injustices through the HFFI program by investing in food systems assets that not only increase food access in underserved communities but improve health, strengthen local economies, grow wealth and quality jobs, and develop essential community anchors

The Frenchtown Neighborhood Improvement Association began its fight against food insecurity when it started a farmers market in 2012. Six years later it opened a kitchen share program from its current location, which it rents from the city for $10 annually.

The farmers market operates on property around the FNIA building, starting at 10 a.m. each Saturday. The initial plan was to open on Tuesdays as well.

“All that hadn’t worked well, so we are saying rather than go through all that we will put the kiosks,” Bellamy said.

Most of the supplies for the kiosks will come from local farmers, Bellamy said. The content will include poultry, fruits and vegetables.

Bellamy also announced that the Frenchtown organization will purchase a peas shelling machine. Peas will be purchased from local farmers, he said,  and prepared by a new packing machine to be sent to retailers.

“We are just trying to keep growing,” Bellamy said. “We are going to have to because if we want to be real independent we’ve got to keep growing. That’s really what I want to do.”