INDIANAPOLIS (WOWO): Senators are considering a grant fund to encourage grocery stores to fill the gap in Indiana food deserts.

A Senate committee has recommended setting aside a million dollars to help stores open in underserved areas, or buy equipment to allow them to stock fresh fruits and vegetables.

Logansport Republican Randy Head says he's confident people will make healthy choices if they have the opportunity, but says many people in rural Indiana or in inner cities don't have easy access to anything but convenience stores.

Head says filling those supermarket gaps would reduce health costs linked to obesity and diet-related diseases, and boost the economy as well. He says a similar program in Philadelphia produced $1.50 in investment for every dollar spent, as businesses opened next door to the new grocery stores to take advantage of the foot traffic,

The bill defines a food desert as a five-mile area where 90-percent or more of the available food options are processed foods, not fresh.

Head proposed a 15-million-dollar grant fund last year. That proposal also passed the Commerce Committee, but died in the Appropriations Committee. Head's hoping the scaled-down version can make it to the Senate floor.