LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (KAIT/Edited Press Release) – Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, along with the Department of Health, honored recipients of the Arkansas Minority Health Commission (AMHC) Food Desert Elimination Grant Program.
“Every Arkansan has a right to have healthy, affordable food in their neighborhood,” said Governor Sanders. “I have charged my administration with tackling food insecurity and was proud to sponsor our state’s Summer EBT program, which fills critical gaps for households during the summer months. These grants will help us address Arkansas’ food deserts and combat food insecurity, one of the most important goals of my administration.”
“The Arkansas Department of Health is proud to partner with communities, nonprofits and local government organizations to improve nutrition and find new ways to make healthy food more accessible and affordable,” said Health Minister Renee Mallory. “These underprivileged people have proposed innovative ways to eliminate food deserts across the state.”
“Reducing food insecurity and improving access to healthy food is not a one-size-fits-all solution,” said Kenya Eddings, director of the Arkansas Minority Health Commission. “Recipients of these first grants will work to improve the physical, mental and emotional impacts of food insecurity in the communities they serve. This, in turn, improves the overall health of all Arkansans.”
AMHC’s Food Desert Elimination Grant Program provides up to $10,000 to nonprofit, faith-based and community-based organizations working to eliminate food deserts in Arkansas. Recipients can use these funds for community needs assessments, focus groups, technical assistance and more.
Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS), and the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) announced in January that the state of Arkansas has implemented the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) program, a new food subsidy program that provides families with $120 for each school-age child to purchase groceries during the school holidays. The new program complements the free meals that children of all ages can receive at food distribution sites in their communities during the summer.
The governor signed legislation during her first term that provides free breakfast and lunch to students who were previously eligible for reduced-price meals, and she directed her staff to work with stakeholders to develop a plan to address this critical issue.
The following groups received grants today:
The town of Pine Bluff will implement a plan to study the socioeconomic factors that influence food deserts in Pine Bluff.
Innovative community concepts in Pulaski County will set up a series of mobile “pop-up” marketplaces to assess operational feasibility and consumer opinions on a mobile grocery store. The mobile pop-ups will operate in the four Little Rock Council districts (1, 2, 6, and 7) identified as food deserts in the Little Rock Food Desert Task Force report.
McElroy House in Yell County will develop a seed sharing and caring program. McElroy House will partner with a local food bank, Sharing and Caring, to install raised beds and expand on their already existing bilingual gardening models. They will also create and distribute a bilingual “Local Food Events Calendar” to inform locals about fairs, festivals and other events where locally grown produce is available.
UA Department of Agriculture in Jefferson County, community gardens will be established and strengthened in food deserts in Jefferson County. Jefferson County will increase regular work and harvest at demonstration and community garden sites by master gardeners and interested community members.
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