Frequently Asked Questions

A farm that is Colorado-owned and Colorado-operated and has an annual gross revenue below three hundred fifty thousand dollars ($350,000).

1. An independent, Colorado-owned, and Colorado-operated small food retail business, defined as a food retailer with less than ten thousand square feet of retail space that carries at least three categories of federally defined staple foods*, and be located in or provide food to local, state, or federally defined low-income, low-access neighborhoods; or
2. A farmer's market or farm-direct operation that is already or demonstrates an intent to become SNAP and WIC -authorized where allowed.
    

*Staple foods:

• Food in the following categories: meat, poultry, or fish; bread or cereals; vegetables or fruits; and dairy products. The meat, poultry, or fish category also includes up to three types of plant-based protein sources as well as varieties of plant-based meat analogues. The dairy category also includes varieties of plant-based dairy alternative staple food items such as, but not limited to, almond milk and soy yogurt.
• Hot foods do not qualify as staple foods. Commercially processed foods and prepared mixtures with multiple ingredients that do not represent a single staple food category shall only be counted in one staple food category.
• “Staple food” does not include accessory food items, such as coffee, tea, cocoa, carbonated and noncarbonated drinks, candy, condiments, and spices.

This program aims to increase access to healthy foods. Healthy foods include:

• Fresh, frozen, unprocessed or minimally processed produce;
• Locally grown or raised products;
• Other food items that may not be normally present in a particular location but that serve the culinary and health needs of a particular population;
• Nutrient dense proteins and grains;
• Other foods meeting a local definition of “healthy” and that provide nutritional value for human health.

Healthy foods do not include prepared foods or hot and ready foods. Healthy foods do not include alcoholic beverages, sugar sweetened beverages, or cannabis products.

Small Food Retailers and Small Family Farms must be located in or serve a Low Income, Low Access (LILA) community in Colorado to be eligible to receive funds. Use the maps below for guidance:

• Dark purple areas on this America’s Healthy Food Financing Initiative map are eligible to apply. 
• Tribal areas are considered LILA areas.
• Qualified Census Tracts on this US Department of Housing and Urban Development map are considered LILA areas. When using this map, be sure to zoom in past level 7, and select the “Color QCT Qualified Tracts” box on the left.

Businesses may still apply even if they are not located in nor serve a population in one of the qualifying areas listed above. A narrative with supporting data outlining the ways in which their community meets a local definition of “Low Income, Low Access” must be provided in the application.

• Cold Storage: Refrigeration and freezer units (consumer-facing or storage)
• Display shelving and display cases
• Certified and calibrated scales
• Point of Sales machines including hardware, monitors, and printers that are directly related to implementing or improving SNAP, WIC, or other food incentive programs. Note that leased equipment is not eligible.
• Food preservation equipment required to extend the availability of healthy food for LILA communities beyond the local harvest or slaughter calendar
• Deli slicers and meat grinders for fresh meat
• Dry storage containers
• Delivery vehicles that will be exclusively used for the transportation of healthy food to LILA communities 
• Power generators that will expand availability of healthy food in rural areas. Businesses will need to report their yearly outages and their impact on food accessibility.
• New or used costly agricultural equipment that will demonstrably and significantly increase retail healthy food access in LILA communities, including but not limited to equipment that is primarily used for planting, harvesting, packing, storing, extending the growing season, raising food-producing animals, and shipping healthy food. All farms will need to submit a letter of support from a retailer in order to demonstrate the connection between increasing production and increasing access to a healthy food for a LILA population.

If your purchase is not explicitly listed here, please fill out a Letter of Eligibility Request Form (request form in Spanish) to determine if the costly equipment you plan to purchase is eligible. 

Not Eligible for a Tax Credit:

• Supplies: items with a useful life that doesn't last beyond a year and that don't represent a substantial cost 
• Vehicles not exclusively used for transportation of healthy food to LILA communities
• Point of sale systems not compatible with healthy food incentive programs
• Storage or retail display equipment for alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, sports and energy drinks or cannabis products
• Vending machines that do not offer healthy foods
• Storage or equipment for creating or displaying prepared foods or hot foods
• Equipment that will not result in expanded access to or lowered prices for healthy food for LILA communities

The application will include questions related to the impact of your purchase. Depending on the type of business you own, you may need to answer questions related to:

• Increased sales of healthy foods to LILA communities
• Increased sales to customers paying with SNAP, WIC or other healthy food incentive programs
• Increased hours of operation
• Increased opportunities for LILA communities to purchase healthy foods
• Decreased prices of healthy foods

View the application questions in English or Spanish to draft your answers before submitting your application.

Businesses will be required to submit the following documentation to prove their eligibility as a part of their application. 

Small Food Retailers (stores)

• Current Retail Food Permit 
• Documentation proving the square footage of your retail space. This can include lease agreements or deeds. Please highlight or circle the square footage. If store owners do not own documentation proving square footage, an attestation will be required. Email cda_cfa@state.co.us for a copy of this attestation.
• Documentation proving recent purchase of at least three types of staple foods. This can include purchase orders, invoices, or delivery receipts. Examples of foods from three different categories should be highlighted, circled, or noted in some way.

Small Food Retailers (farm direct operations and farmers’ markets)

• Documentation proving SNAP or WIC authorization, or copy of SNAP or WIC application. Please redact your FNS number.

Small Family Farms 

• Recent income statement, Profit and Loss statement or other financial document (Schedule F, Form 165) proving annual gross income is less than $350,000.
• Letter of Support from every retailer serving a LILA community you cite in your application, expressing:
  • The need for increased healthy foods
  • Your business as a viable supplier of these products 
  • The length of your business relationship and the number of deliveries received from your farm each year
  • The way your purchased equipment has led to your expanded capacity to supply this retailer with product
  • If your business is a vendor at a farmers market, the letter of support should indicate the percentage of your sales that are to patrons shopping with SNAP, Double Up Food Bucks, WIC, or other food access currencies. 
     

As part of the application, businesses must submit documentation proving the costly equipment was purchased. Businesses should:

• Highlight relevant figures and items on receipts and bank statements. Include notes where necessary for clarification.
• Redact (or otherwise black out) sensitive information, account numbers and routing numbers, or transactions not relevant to the grant. Do not redact business name and address.
• Equipment items purchased with cash are not eligible for a tax credit.

Items paid for with a Credit Card

Receipts from the transaction, and an image of the paid credit card statement, with the transaction circled or highlighted should be submitted. Other transactions not relevant to the grant may be redacted or blacked out.  

Items paid for with a Check

Submit receipts from the transaction, as well as images of the front and back copies of the check(s) that have cleared the bank. Redact routing and account numbers on check images.

If paying with a cashier’s check, an image of the cashier's check should have the name of the entity paid, and it should match the invoice or receipt that is submitted. The bank should also be able to provide a transaction receipt as well and that could be submitted, too.