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Healthy-corner-store pilot expands in Toledo; Produce Perks SNAP match faces near-term funding cut
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Summary
The Toledo Lucas County Health Department and the city said a five-store Healthy Foods Small Market pilot supported by ARPA has added fresh produce in several neighborhoods. The Produce Perks SNAP match that helped boost purchases is set to end this year unless funding is restored, officials said.
Stephanie Baltes, a dietitian at the Toledo Lucas County Health Department, told the committee the city’s Healthy Foods Small Market pilot has placed refrigeration, racks, marketing and training in five locally owned stores using ARPA funding and public-health staffing.
“Today, they can walk to Gold Star Market on the Green Street and find fresh fruits, vegetables, and refrigerated healthy food items right in their neighborhood,” Baltes said.
Baltes described five participating retailers (Jay Clay Community Market, Gold Star Market, Randell’s Carryout, Yarlou African Market and Phoenix Earth Food Co‑op) and said the program provided technology and equipment to expand fresh and frozen produce in ZIP codes identified as high need. She said the pilot has changed purchasing habits in participating neighborhoods.
The city also runs a local Produce Perks site that doubles SNAP purchasing power for fruit and vegetable purchases via a $1-for-$1 match, up to $15 a day. Baltes said Phoenix Earth Food Co‑op is the only brick-and-mortar Produce Perks site in Toledo and that 30 SNAP customers had enrolled since August; collectively they had accrued nearly $250 in produce credits and redeemed over $100 to buy fresh produce. “Access plus affordability is changing the 2 shopping habits,” Baltes said.
Momony and health-department speakers tied the local pilot to larger federal funding changes. In her presentation Momony said the recent termination of a Produce Perks Midwest $6,000,000 GusNIP award and other USDA and state program cuts are straining local nutrition-incentive programming and food-system supports.
Baltes urged the council to sustain and expand the pilot when ARPA funding ends. She warned that Produce Perks at Phoenix is “set to end at the end of this year” and said the corner-store pilot’s ARPA funding is scheduled to end in 2026. “Continued funding will allow more stores to transform and Produce Perks to scale citywide,” Baltes said.
Council discussion and public testimony at the meeting repeatedly stressed the importance of sustaining incentive programs and coordinating funding through a future food-policy council or other regional partnerships. Health-department staff and financial partners present urged the committee to consider long‑term funding options before the pilot’s federal and ARPA dollars expire.
