A $50m initiative has been launched to transform public procurement food systems in the US to increase opportunities for people of colour.
The scheme, Growing Justice, aims to prioritise the “leadership and collaboration of people of colour in the food value chain, from funders to farmers to distributors and food workers”.
The initiative, which claims to be the first of its kind, has been launched by The Rockefeller Foundation, Native American Agriculture Fund, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, Panta Rhea Foundation and Clif Family Foundation.
“The goal of the fund is to transform food systems through procurement practices that increase opportunities for farmers, food producers, organisations and social enterprises led by people of colour in innovative, locally-led ways,” said The Kresge Foundation.
Kresge said public bodies in the US spend around $120bn on food annually “but the benefits often do not reach the farmers, fishers, food producers and distributors, and other food workers of colour from the communities themselves”.
The project will “promote health equity, racial equity, food justice, good food and economic justice, environmental sustainability” by improving access to affordable, nutritious, and “culturally appropriate” food for marginalised communities.
Carla Thompson Payton, vice president for programme strategy at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, said: “Procurement is a powerful tool that can transform our food and farming systems.”
The fund aims to distribute $50m over the next 10 years to community leaders committed to transforming US food systems and procurement, and it has currently received $11m in pledges. The group said it was exploring the opportunities for farmers, food producers, and black, indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC) leaders in the food value chain to access federal, state and philanthropic funds.
Toni Stanger McLachlan, CEO of the Native American Agriculture Fund, said: “With this joint effort, we hope to expand the purchasing power of key institutions, including grocers, schools, and community food procurers.”
She said she hoped the project would increase the number of tribal vendors and improve engagement of tribal producers in the food procurement system.
Betti Wiggins, officer for the Office of School Nutrition, Houston Independent School District, said: “The system has to be more inclusive of BIPOC farmers and women, including in logistics, processing, or anything that takes it from farm to table.”
Erika Allen, co-founder and CEO of the Urban Growers Collective, added: “The fund is a major sea change in the way that philanthropy is shifting to include those most impacted by historic inequity in the development of flexible and holistic funding opportunities.”
Referencing global food shortages which have been exacerbated by Russia’s war in Ukraine, Rajiv J. Shah, president of The Rockefeller Foundation, said: “Today’s hunger crisis is another reminder we must transform our food systems.
“By centreing people of colour’s interests across the food value chain, Growing Justice will increase access to good food while stimulating the kind of equitable economic growth that can make opportunity universal and sustainable.”
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