Healthy Food Economy
Investing in a better regional food system, together
Sacramento is known as America’s Farm-to-Fork Capital, and yet, Sacramento County alone is home to 240,000 individuals facing food insecurity. To address the issues of food disparity throughout the community — and further our work in one of our Strategic Initiatives, Connecting the Regional Food Economy — we established the Healthy Food Economy Fund to help make large-scale investments in the projects that will create the greatest and most lasting change.
Be Part of the Solution
Only through strategic, collaborative efforts can we end hunger for good and address the complex challenges that affect our region’s entire food system. Please join us with a donation to the Healthy Food Economy Fund.
We have partnered with Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services to address food insecurity by giving attention to the unique needs of local communities.
A RESEARCH-BASED APPROACH
This collaborative effort is guided by the Food System Action Plan, a landmark study commissioned by the Foundation in 2015 (and being updated now) that identifies the actions, resources, and leadership needed to accomplish four key goals that will help strengthen the Sacramento region's entire food system: ensure the viability of the food and ag economy at all scales; increase the amount of locally grown food distributed to the regional food system; increase access to fresh, healthy produce, especially in underserved communities; and increase consumption of healthy foods through access to food and nutrition education and knowledge.
COLLABORATING TO IMPROVE THE FOOD SYSTEM
Advancing the strategies recommended by the Food System Action Plan requires that funders come together and collaborate on effectively addressing each of its four goals. To activate this work, the Foundation opened the Healthy Food Economy Fund (the Fund), a regional fund to address disparities in food access and education in our bountiful and agriculturally rich community.
One of its first investments is to maximize the emergency food network through the Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services and its 242 food partner agencies, helping agencies like Real Life Church of Galt better serve the most vulnerable in its community:
Learn more about our initial investments in the food economy
Our efforts aim to create sustainable and equitable investments across the region, ensuring a more connected, more aligned food system for all.
BE A PART OF THE SOLUTION
The Foundation invites you to be a part of the solution to improve food access and education in our region along the Food System Action Plan’s four broad goals. We are looking for partners who:
- Care about ending hunger
- Have the desire to create greater equity in local food access to underserved communities
- Believe in building the regional food economy through investments in infrastructure and scaling up the next generation of food entrepreneurs, farmers, and advocates
- Value food and nutrition education to ensure children and families have the best resources available to make informed decisions regarding their food choices
Fixing the Regional Food System, Together
Through collaborative, large-scale investments, the Healthy Food Economy Fund improves the Sacramento region's entire food system.