To help eliminate food deserts around the nation, U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) recently signed on as the lead original cosponsor of a bipartisan bill that would incentivize food providers to expand access to healthy food options in underserved communities. 

“Many West Virginians struggle to access fresh, nutritious food to keep their families and communities well fed,” said Sen. Capito on Wednesday, noting that the measure would “expand access to healthy foods through food banks and local grocery stores in rural communities across West Virginia and the nation.”

The Healthy Food Access for All Americans Act, S. 1176, which U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) sponsored on March 27 with three cosponsors, including Sen. Capito and U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS), would establish a new tax credit and grant program to stimulate investment and healthy nutrition options in food deserts, according to the text of the bill.

If enacted, S. 1176 would define a grocery market as a retail sales store with at least 35 percent of its selection (or forecasted selection) dedicated to selling fresh produce, poultry, dairy, and deli items.

Additionally, the proposal would encourage investment in food deserts that have a poverty rate of 20 percent or higher, or a median family income of less than 80 percent of the median for the state or metro area by granting tax credits or grants to food providers that service low-access communities and attain a Special Access Food Provider (SAFP) certification through the U.S. Treasury Department, according to a bill summary provided by Sen. Capito’s staff.

Tax incentives would be awarded to: companies that construct new grocery stores in a food desert; companies that make retrofits to an existing store’s healthy food sections; certified food banks that build new, permanent structures in food deserts; and certified temporary access merchants (i.e. mobile markets, farmers markets, and some food banks) that are 501(c)(3)s, the summary says.

The bill is supported by Feeding America, the National Grocers Association, and Share Our Strength.