Grant Guidelines

The following provides an overview of the Fair Food Foundation's approach to its work, guidelines to help you determine if your work coincides with ours, and how to begin the inquiry process.

Overview

The Fair Food Foundation (FFF) is a new foundation with a mission to work with historically-excluded urban communities to design a food system that upholds the fundamental right to healthy, fresh and sustainably-grown food. We partner with individuals, groups within communities, community-based organizations, government leaders and others to discuss, develop, and implement a variety of strategies. We encourage local selection, ownership and control of food sources that are environmentally sound, socially just, and economically viable. We support communities to imagine and realize opportunities that fit their needs.

The Foundation intends to support ideas stemming from communities who have identified their needs and require resources to turn their ideas into actions. As our work begins, we are faced with a broken food system with many symptoms. One symptom is so-called “food deserts,” or large geographic areas within urban communities where there are few retail outlets that sell healthy, fresh foods. In part because healthy food is unavailable, residents of these communities are also more prone to chronic health conditions related to poor diet and nutrition, which is another symptom of the broken system. Increasing food prices exacerbate the problem, creating greater dependency on government food programs. Many residents of historically excluded urban communities are also food insecure, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines as lack of access, at all times, to enough food for an active, healthy life. At the root of all of this is “place”-- where you live determines your vulnerability to all of these symptoms. We believe that access to healthy, fresh and sustainably-grown food is a basic human right; a right that is being systematically denied to many residents of historically excluded urban communities. Our mission to work with partners in these communities to reverse this trend leads us to a vision of how these same communities would look and function if the basic right to good food was upheld.

Vision for the Future

Fair Food Foundation envisions a future where all residents of historically-excluded urban communities demand and obtain healthy, fresh, and sustainably-grown food.

In these communities, a significant percentage of the food is coming from local production and locally owned food businesses that are thriving and driving success, especially for young entrepreneurs. Residents and their children are living healthy, safe, and productive lives.

This vision is possible in large measure due to new collaborations, supportive public policy, and innovative educational initiatives focused on youth in these communities.

This vision calls for a food system that is recognized as the “first economy” in inner- city communities. This “first economy” can produce living wage jobs, support and encourage entrepreneurship, increase tax revenues in urban communities, and provide a boost to the overall economy, while ensuring the basic human right to healthy, fresh, and sustainably grown food.

What We Fund

Fair Food Foundation invites letters of inquiry from qualified tax-exempt organizations working in historically excluded urban communities on projects and programs aligned with our vision. We intend to support organizations committed to the following strategies:

1. Developing sustainable community-based food sources that encourage resident participation and strengthen the local economy.
   
   The development of sustainable community-based food sources is integral to the Foundation's vision of a healthy food system. Community-based food sources could include farmers markets, community supported agriculture (CSAs), community gardens, urban agriculture, and locally-owned enterprises focused on production, processing, distribution, and retailing (both grocery and prepared foods). The intended impact is that historically excluded urban communities will have greater access to healthy, fresh and sustainably grown food in a variety of settings located in these communities. We expect that a significant amount of money spent in these outlets will be retained in the community for a longer period of time, providing a much needed boost to the local economy. We also expect that a significant percentage of the food sold through these outlets is ultimately locally grown.
2. Promoting entrepreneurship and skills training for residents interested in owning/operating, or working in a community-based food enterprise.
   
   New community-based food enterprises can only proliferate to the extent that entrepreneurs identify opportunities, access capital and other necessary resources, and engage employees with necessary skills. This approach addresses the need and opportunity to develop a skilled workforce to own and/or operate community based food enterprises, ultimately creating living-wage jobs, increasing family incomes, and strengthening the local economy.
3. Informing public policy and supporting advocacy efforts for policy and systems change by strengthening historically excluded voices and building relationships on the local, state, and federal levels.
   
   At the root of the broken food system are public policies that continue to promote and subsidize a global food system that is often contrary to the best interests of consumers, especially those with low to moderate incomes or living in urban communities. Keeping food justice on the political agenda at all levels of government will help to facilitate policy and systems change in urban communities. Strengthening historically excluded voices in the public policy arena is also necessary so that those most affected by these policies have a voice in effecting change.
4. Organizing and engaging urban youth through innovative educational opportunities, and encouraging the use of performing, visual, and media arts as a vehicle for creative expression.
   
   In order for efforts to re-design the broken food system to be sustained in urban communities, young people must be engaged, early on, in the discussion of the issues, as well as in the exploration and implementation of solutions. To affect the desire and ability of youth to see the importance of creating a movement around food justice requires meeting youth where they are, providing significant learning opportunities, and allowing them to think creatively and develop a course of action that they can relate to.

Inherent in each strategy is the importance of working collaboratively and coordinating efforts with government, funders, and other community-based organizations; using grassroots organizing to develop resident leadership and empowerment; supporting and engaging youth in a way that provides hands-on experience and learning opportunities; and employing the most promising economic development opportunities to close the food gap in urban areas.

It is also our belief that the most successful programs/projects are those that involve residents of target communities in both program/project planning and implementation from the start. We strongly encourage organizations to consider the importance of community involvement as they plan their program/project.

Where We Work

The Foundation will begin working most intensively in two cities: Detroit, MI and Oakland, CA. However, we will consider requests from organizations working in other urban areas in the U.S. if there is a demonstrated opportunity for impact, innovation, and learning. Organizations should contact Foundation program staff if they have questions about eligibility or Foundation interest in the areas where they are working. The Foundation will not consider international requests at this time.

Grant Uses and Size

Fair Food Foundation will consider requests for project and/or program support. General operating or organizational capacity building will be considered under special circumstances. We will also consider multi-year grants. It is a good idea to discuss your needs with program staff before submitting a request. The Foundation will not consider requests for capital construction, deficit financing, or support to individuals. Grants for research or to support conferences/events will only be considered in the context of a broader program that is relevant to one or more of the Foundation's strategies.

We will consider grants of any size. However, requested amounts should be based on the size and scope of the proposed project or program, and justified by the budget and the organization's demonstrated capacity to effectively manage the funds.

Request Process

The process for organizations that would like to submit a funding request to the Fair Food Foundation is as follows:

1. Letter of Inquiry (LOI): The LOI is required, and must provide an overview of the organization's purpose and activities, organizational leadership, program or project timeline, and estimated budget. The LOI should be submitted utilizing our online form.
2. Foundation staff will review the LOI information and determine whether the organization will be invited to submit a full proposal. During this review stage, Foundation staff may contact you for further information or with clarifying questions, or we may request to visit your site to learn more about the proposed program or project.
3. If you are invited to submit a full proposal, you will be contacted with instructions on how to submit your request via our website. Please do not submit a full proposal until you are invited to do so. Foundation staff may also contact you for additional information or a site visit while reviewing the full proposal.

Although we will accept unsolicited inquiries, it is always a good idea to contact one of the program staff to discuss your program or project before preparing an LOI. Program staff is available to answer questions and provide feedback before you begin the task of preparing a request.

Preparing for the Letter of Inquiry

The Letter of Inquiry (LOI) is the first step in the request process. We require that all applicants submit their LOI utilizing our online LOI form. The form will ask for all of the information we require from you. To help you prepare, we have presented some of the major components of the LOI below so that you can have this information ready to input into the form and make your process more efficient:

• Overview of the organization's history, activities, and leadership
• Statement of purpose (one line)
• Goals/objectives of the proposed program or project
• Collaborators and their roles
• Activities and intended impact
• Major obstacles to achieving goals: are there any, and if so, please identify them and outline your plans to address the obstacles.
• Evaluation plan: how will success be measured?
• How will learning be captured, shared, and communicated?

Submitting an Inquiry

Requests can be submitted at any time during the year, and will be reviewed by program staff when received.

To submit a Letter of Inquiry, go to our online LOI form.

Foundation staff is available to answer questions about how to complete your request online. The Foundation will not accept requests via U.S. post or fax. If you do not have Internet access, please contact one of our program staff for assistance.

Fair Food Foundation expects to receive more requests than we can fund; therefore, please do not interpret a request for a full proposal as an indication of support. The Foundation has a three-step review process (LOI, full proposal, and board approval) and requests can be declined at any time during this process.

Final decisions on grants are made by the Foundation's board of trustees, which meets regularly throughout the year.

Foundation Contact Information

For questions about Foundation strategies or to determine the Foundation's interest in your program or project, please contact one of our program managers:

Meredith Freeman mfreeman@fairfoodfoundation.org 734-213-3999 x 7

Guy Williams gwilliams@fairfoodfoundation.org 734-213-3999 x 8

For help with completing your request online, you can contact one of the program managers or our grants administrator:

Joyce Holliman
mailto:jholliman@fairfoodfoundation.org
734-213-3999 x 6