PRESS RELEASE

Long Beach, CA - The City of Long Beach is seeking to contract with shops that sell food, such as convenience stores and corner store markets, to support the purchase and installation of small equipment such as refrigeration, shelving, etc. to increase local availability of fruits, vegetables and affordable healthy food.

“Increasing access to healthy food options for populations in fresh food deserts helps us build stronger communities,” said Mayor Robert Garcia. “We encourage retail food businesses interested in healthy market conversions to respond to this request for proposal to receive up to $20,000 to support healthy food accessibility in our neighborhoods.”

Businesses are encouraged to apply through the City of Long Beach’s Vendor Portal by 11 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 11. Details related to scope areas, eligibility requirements and submission instructions are available at PlanetBids. The City has also developed a video with instructions on how organizations can submit a proposal. 

While all groups are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, older adults, communities of color and people with underlying medical conditions are at the greatest risk of severe illness. The high rate of consumption of diets high in saturated fats, sugars and nutrient-poor foods contributes to the prevalence of obesity and Type-2 diabetes and places these populations at an increased risk for severe COVID-19 complications and mortality.

In order to meet the needs within the community and reduce the risks of severe illness, hospitalization or death from COVID-19 for those with underlying chronic diseases associated with poor diet, the City is seeking to support healthy market conversions to improve access to healthy food locally for the most at-risk residents.

Registered for-profit retail food business entities that fall into one of the following categories may apply:

• Large grocery stores with greater than or equal to four cash registers but not large chains defined as having four or more outlets.
• Small markets with less than four registers and selling a range of foods, including fresh meat.
• Convenience stores selling food items and snacks but not a complete range of foods and no fresh meat.
• Liquor stores seeking to expand to become small markets.

For this request for proposals (RFP), applicants may request funding to purchase the following: 

• Purchase/repair of equipment, such as refrigerators, portable food storage containers, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program/Electronic Benefits Transfer/Women, Infants and Children (SNAP/EBT/WIC) equipment and processors, etc. if required for proper storage/transport of perishable foods and/or to accept SNAP/EBT/WIC for payment of healthy foods.
• Purchase of shelving and storage units for displaying healthy foods, water and/or fresh fruits and vegetables.
• Purchase of cleaning and sanitation supplies for ensuring a safe shopping experience.
• Purchase of signage to be displayed to promote healthy foods and/or SNAP/EBT/WIC acceptance.
• At least 20% of funds must be used to procure healthy foods to be sold at no more than 15% above cost.

Selected applicants will be awarded up to $20,000. The City anticipates awarding a total of $200,000 for this activity. Awardees must agree to partner with the Long Beach Healthy Market Partnership and must commit to using funds for the express purpose of completing a healthy market conversion. Conversions must be completed by March 20, 2021. 

Funds will be used to support the development of healthy markets as part of the more extensive Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services (Health Department) Healthy Market Partnership Program leveraged against the City’s current California Department of Health and Human Services CalFresh Healthy Living Program (Healthy Active Long Beach), which provides additional resources and technical assistance to ensure that the result of combined efforts will increase access to healthy and affordable foods in impacted neighborhoods.

The Health Department continues to develop strategies to support segments of the community affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and will release additional RFPs to further these efforts. 

For the latest information on COVID-19, with details on all that the City of Long Beach is doing to keep our residents safe, visit longbeach.gov/COVID19 and follow @LongBeachCity on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.   

 ###