DOVER – The Delaware Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed legislation to launch a 3-year, statewide pilot program focused on eliminating the food deserts that make it harder for residents of vulnerable communities to access fruits, vegetables, and other healthy food options.
First sponsored by Senator Darius Brown in March, Senate Bill 254 (S) would require the State of Delaware to develop a holistic, statewide strategy for reducing food insecurity, while creating a new grant program to help strengthen the existing network of small businesses, nonprofits and other organizations currently providing underserved communities with some of their only access to fresh, healthy food.
“While people have been talking about our worsening food deserts for over a decade, we have seen very little progress in terms of making healthy foods readily available to the Delaware families living in urban and rural neighborhoods across our state who do not have reasonable access to a grocery store or supermarket,” said Senator Brown, chair of the Senate Elections & Government Affairs Committee.
“When cheap over-processed junk food is the only option available for thousands of Delawareans, we can’t be surprised when our health care costs go through the roof, our obesity and diabetes rates hit record levels, and we see worsening inequities in our life expectancy,” he said. “We simply can’t wait any longer for the national supermarket chains to fix our problems for us. I want to thank my Senate colleagues for voting today to partner with the shops who are willing to serve our communities to help get more nutritious and healthy foods to the neighborhoods that need them the most.”
SB 254 (S) would create the Delaware Grocery Initiative by converting a federally-funded pandemic-era program focused on strengthening resiliency in the food supply chain into a state-funded program focused on making sure the state’s food supply chain reaches more Delawareans.
The Delaware Grocery Initiative will allow the Delaware Division of Small Business to offer incentives and assistance that can help independent corner stores, food pantries, local governments and other providers expand the healthy food options available in targeted communities, similar to how other state economic development programs are currently used to incentivize job creation.
To assist the Division of Small Business in identifying food insecurity risks, SB 254 (S) also tasks the Delaware Council on Farm and Food Policy in the Delaware Department of Agriculture with collecting input from farmers, retailers, distributors and other food supply experts and developing a food access strategy that recommends investments and other reforms needed to provide nutrient-rich foods in areas without grocery stores or areas at risk of losing the limited options that do exist.
According to the University of Delaware’s Institute for Public Administration, 6 out of 10 Delawareans live in an area with no grocery store nearby while 1 in 4 live in an area with only one grocery store within walking distance or a short commute.
The lack of affordable and healthy food options in 16 of Delaware’s 21 Senate Districts is a contributing factor to higher food insecurity rates in the First State than the national average and an estimated 1 in 6 children struggling with hunger.
SB 254 (S) contains a provision that would sunset the Delaware Grocery Initiative after three years without additional action by the Delaware General Assembly. Funding for the program would be set by the state’s annual operating budget at the discretion of the governor and the budget-writing Joint Finance Committee.
“Food is one of our most basic survival needs, yet thousands of Delawareans still do not have access to fresh, healthy options in their communities,” said Rep. Nnamdi Chukwuocha, the prime House sponsor of SB 254 (S) and a member of the House Health & Human Development Committee. “The quality of our food directly impacts our quality of life, with healthier options leading to better health outcomes and overall wellbeing. We must continue to seek creative and comprehensive solutions to ensure everyone has access to the foods and markets they need to thrive, and this bill is a significant step toward that goal.”
SB 254 (S) now heads to the Delaware House of Representatives for final consideration.
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