RICHMOND, VA. — The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (N.I.F.A.) is making up to $31.5 million in funding available to help participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) more easily afford healthy foods.

“Too many struggling families do not have adequate access to nutritious food,” said Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture. “Helping families purchase more fresh produce is clearly good for families’ health, helps contribute to lower health costs for the country, and increases local food sales for family farmers. Public-private partnerships with non-profit organizations and other community groups are already proving to have great success across the country. These resources will allow partnerships like these to help even more families.”

As a way to improve the health status and nutrition of SNAP households, the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive brings together stakeholders from distinct parts of the food system to propose ideas such as relatively small pilot programs, multi-year community-based programs or larger scale multi-year programs. Funded projects will test community-based strategies to contribute to future efforts.