America's Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) — Food Access and Retail Expansion (FARE) Fund
USDA Rural Development (America's Healthy Food Financing Initiative), administered by Reinvestment Fund
$20,000–$250,000
Researched for this program: 3 rejection traps · 3 required documentsWhat decides this award ↓
Healthy-food access grants
The HFFI Food Access and Retail Expansion (FARE) Fund provides grants and technical assistance to food retailers and food-supply-chain enterprises that improve access to healthy, staple, and perishable foods in underserved communities. It is a program of USDA Rural Development's America's Healthy Food Financing Initiative, administered on USDA's behalf by Reinvestment Fund, a CDFI. The 2026 round makes at least $5.25 million available for planning and implementation grants of $20,000–$250,000, plus at least $1 million in separate technical-assistance awards (up to $75,000 each). Eligible projects must maintain or expand access to healthy food in USDA-defined low-income/low-access areas and, for retail, accept SNAP benefits. Congress expanded eligibility beyond grocery retailers to include 'food enterprises' along the supply chain — aggregation, processing, distribution, and manufacturing businesses that serve SNAP-authorized retailers.
- Funding type
- Grant
- Level
- Federal
- Amount range
- $20,000 – $250,000
- Realistic amount
- Most FARE Fund awards land within the published $20,000–$250,000 grant band, with smaller planning-stage projects toward the lower end and build-out/implementation projects (refrigeration, equipment, retail expansion) toward the upper end. Technical-assistance awards run up to $75,000.
- Deadline
- 2026 FARE Fund grant and technical assistance Funding Inquiries are no longer accepted; full applications are by invitation only (due Oct 30, 2026); loans are a separate rolling track
- Status
- between-intakes
- States
- Nationwide
- Payment model
- reimbursement
Who qualifies
- Applicant must be a business or organization (individuals are NOT eligible)
- Eligible types include SNAP-authorized food retailers selling staple and perishable foods in underserved areas, and food enterprises along the supply chain (aggregation, processing, distribution, manufacturing) that serve SNAP-authorized retailers
- Project must maintain or expand access to staple and perishable foods in a USDA-defined underserved area (e.g., USDA Low-Income Low-Access census tracts or comparable methodologies shown on the program's eligibility map)
- Retail projects must accept (or commit to accept) SNAP benefits
- Specific additional requirements are defined in each cycle's Request for Applications (RFA)
What it covers
Eligible expenses
- Refrigeration, freezers, and cold-storage equipment
- Store build-out, retail expansion, and renovation to stock healthy/perishable food
- Aggregation, processing, and distribution infrastructure serving SNAP retailers
- Planning, feasibility, and market-development activities for healthy-food projects
- Technology and point-of-sale systems supporting SNAP/healthy-food access (per RFA)
Ineligible expenses
- Projects outside qualifying underserved/low-access areas
- General operating costs unrelated to expanding healthy-food access
- Activities by individuals (not eligible applicants)
- Costs disallowed under the cycle RFA
FARE Fund grant, technical assistance or loan: three tracks, one front door
The HFFI FARE Fund, run by Reinvestment Fund for USDA Rural Development, offers three kinds of money, and the one you can get depends on how far along your project is. Grants of $20,000 to $250,000 do not have to be repaid. Technical assistance (TA) of up to $75,000 pays contracted consultants for early planning. Loans of $500,000 to $3 million are for shovel-ready projects and are repaid.
Award size by track (log scale)
Light bar: loans above $3 million, up to $5 million, are considered case by case.
| Track | Size | Pays for | You need |
|---|---|---|---|
| Planning grant | $20,000–$250,000 | Site analysis, feasibility and market studies, architectural plans, financial planning | An early-stage project |
| Implementation grant | $20,000–$250,000 | Building, fixtures, equipment and technology; operating and pilot costs up to 25% of the budget | Site control (an executed lease, purchase agreement or ownership), finished feasibility work, a timeline for opening |
| Technical assistance | Up to $75,000 | Contracted soft costs: community engagement, business and feasibility planning, predevelopment | A project still being planned |
| Loan | $500,000–$3,000,000 | Acquisition, construction, bridge and permanent loans, equipment, working capital, New Markets Tax Credit leverage loans | A shovel-ready project with site control |
Decision rule: if you do not yet hold a lease, purchase agreement or deed, the FARE Fund money within reach is a planning grant or TA. If a store build costs well over $250,000, the grant covers only part of it, and the FARE Fund loan is the track sized for the rest. Grants need no match, cannot count as match for another federal award and cannot buy vehicles. One entity can ask for both a grant and TA in its inquiry but will be selected for only one.
The four FARE Fund eligibility tests
A FARE Fund project qualifies only when it passes four tests at once: an eligible organization, an eligible location, a real assortment of staple and perishable food, and SNAP at the register. Reinvestment Fund screens every Funding Inquiry against them before inviting a full application.
| Test | What qualifies | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Organization | For-profit businesses (including LLCs and sole proprietors), co-ops, nonprofits, colleges, and state, local and tribal governments. Individuals cannot apply. | SAM.gov registration must be active when the inquiry is filed; a UEI number alone is not enough. 2024–2025 implementation grantees could not win a 2026 grant but could seek TA. |
| 2. Location | A USDA Low-Income Low-Access census tract, an adjacent tract at or below 120% of area median family income, a Reinvestment Fund Limited Supermarket Access block group, or a US territory. | Other low-access methods used by a government or philanthropic food program may also count; Reinvestment Fund confirms locations on request. |
| 3. Food mix | Retail must sell at least three of four staple groups: fruits or vegetables; meat, poultry or fish; dairy; breads or cereals, with fresh, refrigerated or frozen items among them. | Prepared foods, snacks, desserts and most drinks are not staple foods. |
| 4. SNAP | Any retail outlet in the project accepts SNAP once it is operating. | USDA rules allow 45 days to decide a SNAP retailer application, so start early. |
Supply-chain businesses are tested differently. A food hub, distributor or processor need not sit inside a qualifying area; it qualifies by supplying SNAP-authorized retailers that do, and the inquiry asks for their addresses. A suburban food hub that stocks three SNAP grocers inside low-access tracts can apply, because the grocers' locations are what gets tested. Check any address on the HFFI eligibility map.
Not sure the FARE Fund is your best shot? See which grants you qualify for.
How to apply
-
1
Confirm location eligibility on the HFFI map
Use the program's interactive eligibility map to verify the project site is in a qualifying underserved/low-access area before investing time in an application.
~2 hrs
-
2
Submit a Funding Inquiry
Complete the screening Funding Inquiry in Reinvestment Fund's SmartSimple portal by the cycle deadline. Inquiries are screened for eligibility; only eligible applicants are invited to apply in full.
~4 hrs
-
3
Complete the full application
If invited, prepare the full application: project description, budget, food-access impact, SNAP acceptance (for retail), business/financial information, and supporting documents per the RFA.
~20 hrs
-
4
Review and award
Reinvestment Fund reviews full applications and makes award decisions; 2026-cycle notifications are expected no earlier than January 2027. Awarded grantees execute agreements and begin reporting.
~3 hrs
Run your exact address through the HFFI eligibility map BEFORE writing anything — eligibility is geographically hard-gated to USDA low-income/low-access tracts, and the most common reason strong food businesses get screened out at the Funding Inquiry stage is a site that's just outside a qualifying tract. If you're a corner store or co-op, lock in your SNAP authorization early; it's effectively required for retail projects.
Deadline & timing
Two-stage process: a screening Funding Inquiry (deadline July 31, 2026, 11:59 PM ET) determines eligibility by Sept. 4, 2026; eligible applicants are invited to submit a full application by Oct. 30, 2026. Cycle dates and exact funding are set in each year's RFA published at investinginfood.com.
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What the FARE Fund application asks, and how a yearly round runs
Every FARE Fund request starts with a Funding Inquiry, a short eligibility screen filed in Reinvestment Fund's SmartSimple portal, not on Grants.gov. Only applicants the screen finds eligible are invited to write a full application, and the grant and TA tracks each have their own.
- 1
The Funding Inquiry
Applicant details, project locations, eligibility questions (whether the business is operating, construction status, retail or supply chain, SNAP status) and a brief summary of the project, its stage, your organization, the timeline and the amount requested. One per entity per RFA, and it cannot be edited once submitted.
- 2
The full application, by invitation
It builds on the inquiry with more project information, narrative questions, operating projections, a budget and a budget narrative. Invitations flag any parts of the project that are not allowable.
- 3
The project period
Funded grant projects run up to 12 months, or up to 24 months when the grant pays for construction.
| Season | Step |
|---|---|
| Spring | Reinvestment Fund published the RFA and held an applicant webinar on May 27, 2026 (recording online). |
| Summer | Funding Inquiries closed July 31, 2026. |
| Late summer | Eligibility notices and invitations went out by September 4, 2026. |
| Fall | Invited applicants submit full applications. |
The next grant round is possible, not promised. Reinvestment Fund says it hopes to offer HFFI funding "possibly on an annual basis, depending on funding availability," and the 2026 round followed a 2024–2025 cycle. Loans run on their own clock: Funding Inquiries are taken on a rolling basis until September 30, 2028, or until the loan pool of at least $22 million is fully awarded.
What to do before the next round opens
- Register in SAM.gov now; registration must be active when you file the inquiry.
- Start SNAP retailer authorization if your store does not have it yet.
- Take the Community Connectors' screening quiz, then email CommunityConnector
@investinginfood.com with your organization name and state in the subject line. Connectors explain eligibility; they do not write grants.
Programs like the FARE Fund, and when each fits better
The FARE Fund is built for one job: getting staple and perishable food onto SNAP shelves in low-access areas. If your money goes to the farm, to local food marketing or to a multimillion-dollar build, another program is designed for it.
| Program | Size | Built for |
|---|---|---|
| USDA Farmers Market & Local Food Promotion Program | Up to $500,000 (LFPP) | Farmers markets, food hubs and local food businesses, with direct-to-consumer and supply-chain tracks |
| USDA Value-Added Producer Grant | Up to $200,000 | Farmers turning their own raw commodities into higher-value products; a 1:1 match is required |
| USDA Rural Business Development Grant | Up to $500,000 | Rural organizations that train or assist small rural businesses, paid to the intermediary |
| New Markets Tax Credit | $2M–$20M loans | Below-market financing for large builds in low-income communities; FARE Fund loans can serve as NMTC leverage loans |
Packaged food makers and farmers-market vendors should read which USDA money fits food makers and market vendors, and farms can compare every federal and state option in farming and agriculture grants.
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