Santa Barbara County Food Action Network Announces its 2020 Food System Resilience Grants

The network supports local food system change makers in order to help build a resilient Countywide food system.

SANTA BARBARA —

The 2020 Resilience Grants will be available to nonprofit organizations throughout Santa Barbara County, providing programs or services that address one or more of the SBCFAN’s 16 Food Action Plan Goals, which fall under 4 Big Actions:

1. Investment in the local foodshed: includes a commitment to regenerative growing practices and sustainable food production, consumption, and waste initiatives, as well as reducing the food system’s contribution to climate change.
2. Investment in the community: includes initiatives such as establishing community food access centers, increasing affordability and accessibility to locally-grown food, and supporting fair compensation for members of the food workforce.
3. Investment in local health and wellness: includes empowerment of local networks who are helping food insecure community members; implementing workplace wellness policies; supporting and integrating food and nutrition education programs.
4. Investment in the local food economy: support for the next generation of farmers and food system entrepreneurs; developing a preferential purchasing policy model for agencies and institutions; strengthening local food distribution systems; forming food hubs to facilitate investment in food systems development.

Applications will be vetted through a process of research, planning, due diligence and evaluation. The grants will be reviewed by an external volunteer committee whose expertise ensures an equitable and impact driven approach to the review process. The maximum award for this round of grants is $25,000, with no minimum requirement.

The funding source for the grants is the Santa Barbara Foundation, whose mission is to mobilize collective wisdom and philanthropic capital to build empathetic, inclusive and resilient communities. Funds will then be distributed by Foodbank of Santa Barbara County in partnership with SBCFAN. Santa Barbara Foundation and Foodbank of Santa Barbara County serve on the Executive Committee for SBCFAN and work closely with Network partners to advance the common goal of building a resilient local food system.

Funding can be used for one of two focus areas: collaborative projects in new research, planning or project activation for future food system initiatives (Instigate); expansion of existing food system programs, models and organizations that utilize available resources or partnerships (Grow). Priority will be given to organizations that will use the funds to strengthen the network; take into account external shocks to the food system (such as the COVID-19 pandemic); and/or effectively respond to the urgent needs of their local community.

The application deadline to apply for the 2020 Food System Resilience Grants is November 10, 2020. Funds will be awarded to the selected organizations in December of 2020. For more information visit sbcfoodaction.org/grants.

When asked about the intention of the funding, SBCFAN’s Executive Director, Shakira Miracle claimed; “This grant funding supports either collaborative or individual localized projects that will contribute to long term sustainable food models with a Countywide scope. We’re doing our part to support the development and growth of innovative solutions that will localize and improve our food and farming systems.”

In addition to grantmaking a variety of programs, some of the grants awarded will support new and existing “Working Groups,” or cross-sector collaborations convening and activating to address a shared food system. Working Groups that are in the process of launching include: Victory Gardens/Community Grown Agriculture, CalFresh Expansion, Community Kitchens & Cold Storage, and Food as Medicine. For more information about joining these Working Groups, or if you’d like to learn how to start your own, sbcfoodaction.org/working-groups.