MARSHALL – In places like southwest Minnesota, putting healthy food on the table isn’t just a matter of cost. It’s also one of distance. In rural areas, many Minnesotans live more than 10 miles from the nearest grocery store, data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture says.

A new initiative is working to help Minnesotans get access to affordable healthy food, but it’s also going to take teamwork from area community members to find solutions, organizers said Wednesday.

A discussion about the new Good Food Access Fund was held at the offices of Southwest Health and Human Services in Marshall on Wednesday. Attending the meeting were members of organizations like United Community Action Partnership, Southwest Health and Human Services, the University of Minnesota Extension, Lutheran Social Services and community food shelf programs.

The Good Food Access Fund campaign has been going on for about a year, with the support of the American Heart Association, said campaign manager Leah Gardner. A lack of healthy food is at the root of a number of health disparities for Minnesotans, Gardner said. Around 235,000 Minnesotans don’t have a nearby source for healthy foods like fresh produce.

“If you’re an isolated senior, or a family struggling to make ends meet,” that can have an extra impact on your diet and health, Gardner said.

The Good Food Access Fund’s mission will be to provide help like grants, low-cost loans, and technical support for food-related enterprises in Minnesota. Gardner said funds could go to a variety of efforts to make good food more accessible, from improving community grocery or corner stores, to creating mobile markets or cooperatives.

“It has to be a community-driven solution,” Gardner said. “I’ve had a lot of creative ideas in the mix.”

Gardner said the Minnesota Legislature passed a bill creating the Good Food Access Fund in the 2016 session.

“We asked for $10 million, and that’s a lot to get from the state . . . but it’s what we need,” she said. The fund received $250,000 instead. Gardner said it will make it challenging to launch the program, but supporters hope it will be enough to start some pilot programs.

Gardner told people attending at the meeting that she was interested in hearing about local efforts to improve food access, as well as answering questions about the Good Food Access Fund. She asked about UCAP and the Extension’s recent efforts to allow Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients to use their electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards at area farmers markets. Similar ideas hadn’t gone over well in other parts of the state, Gardner said.

Margaret Palan, of UCAP Food Assistance in Marshall, said there was a good response from Marshall area residents. EBT purchases totaled around $5,000 in sales at the Marshall farmers market this summer, she said. Strong marketing, one-on-one outreach with vendors, and education were likely keys to its success, meeting attendees said. The opportunity to use EBT, debit and credit cards at farmer’s markets was advertised on area radio, and Extension nutrition educators did a hands-on cooking demonstration and a tour of the Marshall farmers market.

“It takes a team to do this project,” Palan said.

Education, and taking the stigma out of using SNAP, are also important in helping area residents get access to healthy foods, attendees said.

People in attendance at the meeting said there are challenges facing community nutrition. Finding ways to store and refrigerate fresh produce was one. Roger Raschke, of the Pipestone County Food Shelf, said the food shelf currently receives deliveries of produce from Second Harvest twice a month. It would be “wonderful” to have a walk-in cooler to help keep produce longer, Raschke said, but it would mean building a new facility for it.

In many cases, expanding produce coolers at rural grocery stores would mean significant upgrades to buildings and electrical systems, said Extension SNAP educator Alica Whitmore.

Gardner said one of the possible uses for the Good Food Access Fund could be to assist community grocery stores that are trying to update or expand their refrigeration systems.

Gardner said the Minnesota Department of Agriculture will be putting out requests for proposals for Good Food Access projects, possibly in December. She said the Good Food Access Fund campaign plans to ask the state for $10 million in funding again next year.