Maryland Opens $3.67 Million NourishMD Grant Round for Food Desert Retail Projects

FY 2027 NourishMD Application Window Opens September 22

Per the Maryland Department of Health, Governor Wes Moore has formally announced that the FY 2027 application round for the NourishMD Grant Program — administered through the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development — will open on September 22, 2026. The program commits approximately $3.67 million to support food retail expansion and community development within designated food deserts across Maryland jurisdictions, with Somerset County explicitly named as an eligible recipient area. For local land use planning, this funding window is the operative regulatory trigger for retail siting decisions in qualifying tracts.

Program Mechanics and Eligibility Criteria

NourishMD funding is directed at two qualifying project categories: food retail expansion and community development interventions addressing food desert conditions. Statutory designation of food desert status — derived from state and federal datasets measuring access to affordable, nutritious food — determines geographic eligibility. For Somerset County municipalities, census tracts and unincorporated areas meeting the state's threshold metrics for limited retail food access become priority funding targets. Applicants should confirm local tract designations before initiating application development, since eligibility is tract-specific rather than jurisdiction-wide.

The program's $3.67 million allocation is distributed across all qualifying Maryland jurisdictions, meaning Somerset County applicants will compete on a statewide basis rather than receive a pre-allocated county share. Project scoring will therefore prioritize demonstrable statutory compliance and quantifiable community impact metrics.

Somerset County Compliance Steps

Local jurisdictions, property owners, and prospective applicants operating within Somerset County should confirm the following before the September 22 opening date:

• Verify food desert designation for the proposed project location using current state and federal datasets.
• Confirm alignment between the proposed use — food retail expansion or qualifying community development activity — and DHCD program criteria.
• Review Somerset County zoning and land use regulations to ensure the project site is permitted for the intended commercial or mixed-use configuration, including any required setback adjustments.
• Prepare documentation of community impact metrics: population served, distance to nearest existing full-service grocery retail, and projected service area coverage.
• Coordinate with the Somerset County Department of Technical and Community Services regarding any necessary comprehensive plan amendments or zoning map changes prior to submission.

What to Track

Subsequent reporting should monitor DHCD's published award announcements, any conditional funding obligations tied to local zoning amendments, and implementation timelines for funded projects. Somerset County's Comprehensive Plan update cycle should be reviewed for consistency with the program's land use assumptions, particularly in identified food desert tracts where new retail siting may require rezoning or easement delineations. Municipal officials are advised to document tract-level conditions now, since post-award compliance verification will reference the statutory status existing at the time of application.