Founded in 1992, The Food Trust (TFT) works with neighborhoods, institutions, retailers, farmers and policymakers across the country to ensure delicious, nutritious food for all. Backed by three decades of research and evaluation, our holistic, community-centered approach to nutrition security weaves together three core programming elements — access, affordability and education — as well as a focus on advocating for public policy solutions.
TFT is guided by our vision for a more equitable society, where nutritious food is abundant, people of all backgrounds are nourished and prosperous, and communities are thriving. TFT recognizes that healing the food system will require holistic shifts in our economy, farming practices, education and more. TFT looks to transform our food ecosystem through a holistic approach that integrates community-driven, sustainable change.
Headquartered in Philadelphia, TFT works locally, regionally and nationally to further its mission. TFT serves more than 1.1 million people annually in low-income areas, providing direct service in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and San Jose, California and with technical assistance efforts reaching more than 40 states across the country.
TFT focuses its programming in communities that experience high levels of poverty and high eligibility for SNAP. These communities also experience high rates of food insecurity due to a lack of retail points for fresh and affordable produce. This disparity in access to affordable and nutritious food exacts a huge toll on residents' health and well-being, with residents living in low-income communities experiencing a disproportionate burden of diet-related diseases such as diabetes, stroke and heart disease.
Core programs include operating a network of farmers markets and farm stands across Philadelphia; implementing fruit and vegetable incentive programs, like Food Bucks, Food Bucks Rx and Heart Bucks; making corner stores healthier places to shop through the Healthy Corner Store Initiative; providing nutrition education to children and adults at schools and community sites; managing and supporting the implementation of healthy food financing initiatives, which support healthy food retail projects in high-need communities; and advocating for policy change at the local, state and national levels.
The Food Trust (TFT) seeks to evaluate and analyze one of our largest programs: the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative (PA FFFI). Since 2018, the PA FFFI has granted out over $4 million to over 80 grocery stores and other food retailers and leveraged over $43 million in funds to support these projects. Over 1,600 jobs have been created and retained, and funded projects have reached almost 1 million residents.
The PA FFFI:
PA FFFI is a type of healthy food financing initiative (HFFI), a public-private financing program that invests in new or expanding grocery stores and other fresh food retail outlets in low-access, low- to moderate-income communities throughout the United States.
The nation's first statewide HFFI program began in Pennsylvania through a partnership between TFT and Reinvestment Fund in the early 2000s. Responding to concerns raised by Philadelphia residents, TFT published a report mapping areas around the city affected by low supermarket access, low incomes, and high rates of diet-related deaths. The map resonated with the City Council, who asked TFT to convene a task force. TFT brought together representatives from the civic sector, public health, economic development, city government and even grocery stores to best understand the challenges to investing in these communities. The task force presented the City Council with recommendations for increasing local supermarket investment, including forming the PA FFFI. The state adopted the program in 2004, which ran through 2010 with $30 million in funding; the program was recapitalized in 2018 and continues to this day with management by TFT. The initiative has been honored by Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government as one of the leading Innovations in Government, and TFT’s local work on HFFI has been used as a model by the federal government to improve access to healthy food.
In addition to the PA FFFI, TFT is currently supporting—through application analysis, small business outreach, and program administration—the Massachusetts Food Trust Program, Kansas Healthy Food Initiative and New Jersey Innovative Healthy Food Retail Initiative. The organization previously supported the Deep South Healthy Food Initiative along with numerous other emerging HFFI and related programs nationwide. Further, TFT supports partners implementing or applying for the two Federal HFFI programs: America’s HFFI, through the USDA, and the HFFI, through the US Department of Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund.
This is a critical moment for PA FFFI Evaluation & Analysis:
The nationwide expansion of HFFI programs can largely be attributed to the CDFI Fund of the U.S. Treasury Department—a bipartisan initiative signed into law over 30 years ago to expand economic opportunity in underserved communities by supporting the growth of a national network of community development lenders, investors, and financial service providers. In March 2025, the Trump administration issued an executive order restricting this fund.
Another key legislation—the Farm Bill—authorizes and funds ‘America’s HFFI.’ Reauthorized every five years, the Farm Bill is up for renewal in 2025, a critical year in which nutrition programs are already facing the threat of significant cuts.
As one of the largest HFFI stakeholders in the country, TFT needs well-assessed and rigorously evaluated data to demonstrate the impact of these programs. This information is essential not only for advocacy during this pivotal political moment but also for fundraising to address potential service gaps.
Project Goals:
By the end of this project, TFT hopes to have an increased understanding of:
- Unmet needs and areas of opportunity amongst PA healthy food retailers and enterprises.
- The multi-faceted impact of TFT’s recent PA FFFI investments for the small businesses, community members, and local economies. TFT intends to use this impact report to attract new and diverse funders as well as to advocate for greater municipal, state, and federal support.
- Emergent best practices from other HFFIs across the country, which TFT could incorporate into the PA FFFI to better serve small food businesses and the communities they serve.
Stakeholders:
- Food retailers and small businesses who have received PA FFFI funding and/or lending support by CDFI partners
- Food retailers who applied but were not awarded or who chose to not apply for capacity reasons, to understand pre-application support needs and opportunities for new PA FFFI collective impact partners
- TFT community based partners, small business owners, and lending partners (e.g. CDFIs, credit unions, and other banks and financial institutions)
- HFFI program administrators in other states and municipalities, or similar public/private food retail investment programs
Upon completion of the project, TFT expects the MPA Capstone project to produce:
- Assessment of TFT’s PA FFFI Portfolio - This assessment should examine TFT’s recent food retail investments through the PA FFFI to understand the impact of grant dollars on small businesses, local economies, and community food access. Impact metrics can be determined collaboratively with the TFT team and the MPA Capstone student.
- Gap Analysis of Current Unmet Needs & Opportunity Areas - Through interviews with small business owners and food enterprises that have not applied or have not been awarded PA FFFI funds, as well as food retail landscape research, the gap analysis will identify ways the PA FFFI can more effectively serve PA healthy food retailers and enterprises. The gap analysis will also examine other forms of support for PA small businesses and recommend ways PA FFFI may be able to address these gaps or complement, not duplicate, existing programs.
- Landscape Analysis of HFFI Programs - This analysis will examine other successful and innovative HFFI programs across the country to understand how HFFIs are structured, managed, and funded—identifying emergent best practices that could be integrated into PA FFFI.
The Food Trust would like the project to be completed by the end of March 2026.
