Food & Nutrition Funders
Learn more about grants for food security by exploring Inside Philanthropy’s list of top food security funders below. Subscribers can also explore funders using our Grantfinder Search Tool. Become a member.
Funding Trends
Philanthropy aims to address food insecurity at both local and global levels. Donations and grants support a wide range of initiatives, including charitable endeavors like soup kitchens, cutting-edge agriculture research and efforts to transform global food systems.
For decades, philanthropic donors have recognized that U.S. government programs such as food stamps and school lunch programs do not fill all the gaps, and food-oriented charities have been consistent recipients of charitable gifts. Feeding America, a national network of food banks, is one of the largest charities in the United States.
Globally, legacy foundations such as Gates and Rockefeller have invested in large-scale efforts to increase food production to feed the world’s people. The “Green Revolution” approach — which focused on agricultural technology to produce more food — received substantial philanthropic support in 20th-century efforts to end hunger.
But there is growing disagreement over whether industrial agriculture, which has harmed the planet as well as smaller-scale farmers, is what the world needs, and some big funders are starting to resource smaller, more local solutions that prioritize biodiversity and equity.
The Packard Foundation, for instance, supports the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, and in 2020, launched a five-year grantmaking strategy that supports smallholder farmers. The conservation-focused Howard G. Buffett Foundation resources smallholder farmers in developing countries.
And even funders who have invested heavily in Green Revolution solutions, such as the Rockefeller Foundation, are rethinking their strategies and funding more holistic approaches. It’s a shift “from calories to systems” that has been happening over the past decade, IP’s Paul Karon reported.
In the U.S., equity-focused funders are increasingly directing resources to community-based and BIPOC-led organizations. For example, the Kresge Foundation’s FreshLo initiative supports community-driven food security projects in historically under-resourced communities. Kresge has joined other funders, including the Rockefeller, Kellogg, Panta Rhea and Clif Family foundations, as well as the Native American Agriculture Fund, in a new pooled fund called Growing Justice, which focuses on BIPOC-led solutions to transform food systems in the U.S.
Within the U.S. and globally, government funding plays a big role in food access, but there remain many gaps that philanthropy attempts to fill, as well as plenty of opportunities for private funders to partner with governments and each other to resource large-scale solutions to this large problem.
National / Multi-State Funders
11th HOUR PROJECT
This funder’s work in this area focuses on the intersection between regenerative agriculture, climate equity, and human rights.
AARP FOUNDATION
The AARP Foundation supports health, mental health, food systems and economic opportunity for Americans aged 50 and up.
ALL WITHIN MY HANDS
All Within My Hands was founded by the members of the heavy metal band Metallica. The organization supports community colleges, foodbanks and disaster relief in the U.S. To a lesser extent it supports local organizations in the cities and towns abroad where Metallica performs.
BANK OF AMERICA CHARITABLE FOUNDATION
Bank of America’s food system and nutrition grants fund food access and hunger relief efforts.
BAYER FUND
The Bayer Fund’s grantmaking for food systems works to address malnutrition by helping to ensure access to and use of nutritious foods.
JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION
The James Beard Foundation awards grants, fellowships and scholarships for small businesses and individuals who aim to advance the food and beverage industry.
HOWARD G. BUFFETT FOUNDATION
The Howard G. Buffett’s food security focus area takes a conservation-based approach to farming practices.
CARDINAL HEALTH FOUNDATION
Cardinal Health funding has also prioritized hunger and food security as these issues are broadly considered to major determinants of overall health.
HARRY CHAPIN FOUNDATION
Chapin’s funding to address food systems has an educational component.
CITIZENS CHARITABLE FOUNDATION
Citizens makes grants to support programs and organizations that fight hunger and reduce food insecurity within communities where Citizens Bank has a presence.
CLIF FAMILY FOUNDATION
The foundation’s environmental giving focuses predominantly on Food Systems and Sustainable Agriculture.
CLIMATEWORKS FOUNDATION
The ClimateWorks Foundation supports climate change efforts through various programs and grantmaking focused on food systems, among other giving concerns, all over the world.
STEVEN AND ALEXANDRA COHEN FOUNDATION
The foundation’ssustainability program is broad and funds a wide range of issues, including conservation, urban food systems, and education and employment training.
CS FUND / WARSH MOTT LEGACY
CSF/WML conducts grantmaking related to global development through their Food Sovereignty program, which supports “traditional agricultural knowledge and agroecological practices.”
CORNELL DOUGLAS FOUNDATION
The foundation has supported several organizations that involved with the sustainable production of food and education about food systems and agriculture.
ELEVANCE HEALTH FOUNDATION
The Elevance Health Foundation (formerly known as the Anthem Foundation) makes food grants that focus on food as medicine.
GENERAL MILLS FOUNDATION
Food security funding focuses on providing high-quality and high-nutrition foods to people in need in the U.S. and abroad.
KROGER COMPANY FOUNDATION
As a grocery retail chain, Kroger focuses the vast majority of its grantmaking on issues of food and hunger. In addition to funding a number of food banks in regions where it operates, the foundation supports nonprofit organizations that work to promote food security and access to nutritious food.
MORGAN STANLEY FOUNDATION
The Morgan Stanley Foundation’s nutrition and hunger focus area supports foodbanks across the United States through a partnership with Feeding America.
NEWMAN’S OWN FOUNDATION
Newman’s Own’s nutrition focus area primarily works to “increase fresh food access and nutrition education in underserved communities.”
PIMCO FOUNDATION
The PIMCO Foundation’s global development grants aim to alleviate global hunger and provide nutritious food to the people in the world who experience food insecurity regularly.
ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION
Rockefeller has several subprograms that address food systems at the global and national levels.
ROTH FAMILY FOUNDATION
The foundation’s grants for food security and biodiversity broadly support nonprofits whose purview includes “local farming and agriculture, providing agricultural education and nutrition, creating economic opportunities and sustainability, and celebrating traditional/cultural foods.”
SIDLEY AUSTIN FOUNDATION
Sidley Austin broadly supports human services and basic needs in the communities where its employees live and work.
STARR FOUNDATION
The Starr Foundation’s human needs grantmaking supports “emergency food programs, job training, literacy programs, programs for the disabled and programs that provide emergency or transitional housing for the disadvantaged” in New York City and beyond.
IRVIN STERN FOUNDATION
The foundation funds a number of food banks and nutrition-related nonprofits in the Chicago area and the Midwest.
WOODFOREST CHARITABLE FOUNDATION
The alleviation and prevention of childhood hunger is the primary focus of the Woodforest Charitable Foundation.
