PolicyLink President Judith Bell had a letter published this weekend in the New York Times. Check it out:

To the Editor:

Re “Fresher Food, With Some Help” (Business Day, June 17):

Gov. David A. Paterson’s effort to bring fresh-food stores to low-income communities is a boon for the health and economies of neighborhoods that need boosts in both.

By trying to replicate the astounding success of the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative — which has already provided nearly 400,000 Pennsylvanians with better access to healthy food — New York is at the leading edge of a national wave to bring healthy food and jobs to communities that were abandoned decades ago by the well-stocked supermarkets most Americans take for granted.

That is why my organization is working in partnership with the leaders of these state efforts — the Food Trust and the Reinvestment Fund — to bring this smart, innovative idea to a national scale. Using the leadership and leverage of the federal government, we can make a real impact on the health and welfare of millions of residents of low-income communities and communities of color.

Judith Bell
Oakland, Calif., June 17, 2009

The writer is president of PolicyLink, a national research and advocacy organization.

Excellent piece today in the Times’ business section about the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative…and the effort to replicate it in New York.

 The ShopRite owner, Jeffrey Brown, a fourth-generation grocer, said it would not have made economic sense to open the $14.5 million store, which is at 52nd Street and Parkside Avenue, if not for a Pennsylvania grant and revolving-loan program aimed at improving access to nutritious food in places with few, if any, good stores to choose from.

“In neighborhoods like this, people have less money and the first thing they cut out are all the high-margin items,” said Mr. Brown, citing prepared foods and fancy breads as examples. Costs, like extra security, tend to be higher in poorer neighborhoods, he said.

Through the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative, Mr. Brown, who owns 10 other supermarkets in the Philadelphia area, got a $1 million grant and $7 million in federal New Markets tax credits, which are aimed at stimulating investment in low-income communities. Several customers said the prices at Mr. Brown’s store were fairer than what they had been used to.

Inspired by Pennsylvania’s example, New York City officials have developed an initiative of their own to bring new neighborhood markets selling fresh food to areas of the city where they say the need is greatest.

PolicyLink, The Reinvestment Fund and The Food Trust are also working to bring this idea national. Check out a great two-page primer on the federal possibilities here.

This week’s update on equity news. 

“Administration to Reveal Plans for Katrina Housing Transition,” - Washington Post

The Obama administration will announce plans today to virtually give away roughly 1,800 mobile homes to 3,400 families displaced by Hurricane Katrina who are living in government-provided housing along the Gulf Coast, officials said.

The administration also will make available $50 million in rental vouchers to income-eligible trailer occupants who move to targeted housing projects, and take over from Louisiana the job of helping residents find permanent homes, said a senior White House official, speaking on the condition of anonymity before the formal announcement.

“Measure would help promote groceries in ‘food deserts’,” - Chicago Tribune

The effort to bring more grocery stores to low-income areas–so-called “food deserts”–would receive a shot in the arm from legislation passed this week by the Illinois General Assembly.

The $3.1 billion public spending bill passed Monday includes $10 million for the Illinois Fresh Food Fund, money that would go to urban and rural neighborhoods with reduced access to healthier foods because they’re underserved by supermarkets.

“States, Nonprofits Jockey for ‘Weatherizing’ Funds,” -  The Wall Street Journal

HOUSTON — President Barack Obama wants to make a million houses a year more energy efficient as part of his goal to create thousands of “green” jobs and reduce U.S. carbon emissions.

But the administration’s push to expand an obscure antipoverty program into a centerpiece of that initiative is stirring debate over the best way to use a flash flood of federal stimulus dollars.

This week’s updates on equity news. 

“Poor? Pay Up,” - Associated Press

Having Little Money Often Means No Car, No Washing Machine, No Checking Account And No Break From Fees and High Prices

Prices in urban corner stores are almost always higher, economists say. And sometimes, prices in supermarkets in poorer neighborhoods are higher. Many of these stores charge more because the cost of doing business in some neighborhoods is higher. “First, they are probably paying more on goods because they don’t get the low wholesale price that bigger stores get,” says Bradley R. Schiller, a professor emeritus at American University and the author of “The Economics of Poverty and Discrimination.”

“Fresh food choices coming to West Oakland,” - Oakland Tribune

If James Bell ever doubted during the past three-plus years that the Mandela Foods Cooperative would become a reality, he wasn’t owning up to it Friday.

“I knew it would happen, I just couldn’t say when,” Bell said, pausing between carting in boxes of natural juices and setting up display shelves inside the soon-to-be-opened store on Seventh Street. “The reason I stuck around is I wanted it to happen.”

“Tracking Stimulus Spending May Not Be as Easy as Promised,” - Washington Post

Shortly after the economic stimulus bill was signed, Vice President Biden was talking up the administration’s Web site to track the spending, Recovery.gov, when he accidentally directed people to Recovery.org.

As slip-ups go, this one had an upside: Unlike the government site, the privately run Recovery.org is actually providing detailed information about how the $787 billion in stimulus money is being spent.

A recap of this week’s equity news

 ”Food Banks Finding Aid in Bounty of Backyard,” - New York Times

Natasha Boissier did not expect an epiphany while pushing her baby’s stroller exhaustedly around the neighborhood. But eyeing her neighbors’ yards, Ms. Boissier began noticing the abundance of fruit trees — and how much of their succulent bounty wound up on the ground.

“There was all this fruit going to waste,” she said of the apples, pears and plums in her midst. “It seemed like such a natural way to deal with hunger.”

“Community organizers have deep roots in democracy,” - Los Angeles Times

The elementary school moms didn’t ask a lot of questions about this man Bill. They were too eager to tell him — to tell anybodyanybody — about the loose and snarling pit bulls, the gun-toting gangsters, and the dogcatchers and police who always seemed to come too late.

The principal, Helena Lazo, had introduced him simply: “Bill nos va a ayudar.” Bill is going to help us.

“Rebuilt N.O. homes at risk without required elevation,” - USA TODAY

Thousands of homes in New Orleans are at risk from floods because local officials let their owners skirt rebuilding requirements aimed at preventing massive losses and billions in costs to taxpayers.

In New Orleans, city records show at least 2,300 homeowners — many in areas obliterated by Hurricane Katrina and imperiled again this month as Hurricane Gustav strained at the city’s levees — escaped requirements that they elevate their homes.