Deadline: 11-Jun-24
Is your organization working towards food justice for kids in the United States? If so, this is your chance to receive up to $100,000 in grant funding over the next 2 years and deepen your impact!
Prize Detail
- Up to $1M in total funding (over two years) is available for nonprofits, public schools, and tribes working to advance food justice for kids in the United States and its territories.
- As many as 10 applicants (5 for each of the priority program areas) will receive up to $50,000 each in 2024, with the opportunity for an additional grant of up to $50,000 each in 2025. In 2026 and beyond, these grantee partners may be eligible for further funding.
- Applicants who reach the finalist stage may also be considered for a $10,000 grant awarded through the Newman’s Own Foundation Community Choice Award. Voting will open in the Newman’s Own Community Fund after the finalists have been announced at the end of July. (Join the Community Fund—donations are welcome but not required.)
- Applications for all grants will be initially screened internally and then reviewed by Newman’s Own Foundation Advisory Council members, Foundation staff, and other Foundation-selected reviewers (see criteria for evaluation in FAQs). For each program priority area, a selection of potential finalists will be vetted. Following successful vetting, finalists will be invited to join the Virtual Finalist Pitch Event, after which the 2024 Food Justice for Kids grant recipients will be announced.
- In addition to receiving a grant of up to $50,000, the Food Justice for Kids grantee partners will have the opportunity to participate in a learning cohort, meeting periodically throughout the year (virtually) to network, share best practices, and engage in activities that can be leveraged for greater growth and impact. Grantee partners will then have an opportunity in 2025 to apply for an additional grant of up to $50,000.
- Eligible programs must serve and/or benefit children under 18. Projects that focus on youth across a mix of ages, for example 16-24, should specify the number or percentage of children under 18 who are taking part in the project. Projects that serve a majority of stakeholders over the age of 18 are unlikely to be considered.
Priority Program Areas
- Indigenous Food Justice
- Indigenous people have a long history of growing nourishing, sustainable foods. The seizing of Indigenous lands in the United States over the course of several centuries disrupted the communities’ knowledge and cultivation of culturally specific foods and food systems. Adding to this injury, many Indigenous children now live in remote regions with limited access to fresh foods. In American Indian and Alaska Native communities, 1 in 5 households are food insecure, meaning they do not have enough nutritious food to eat or know where their next meal may come from. These conditions have contributed to increased risks for a variety of chronic diseases, including obesity and Type 2 diabetes, for Native American adolescents.
- Indigenous people have long been working to reclaim their traditional food practices and systems to enable Indigenous children to learn about, grow, gather, and cook Native foods. Such efforts are key for increased physical, mental, and spiritual well-being, and for allowing Indigenous children to thrive and reach their full potential.
- Through the Food Justice for Kids Prize, Newman’s Own Foundation invites applications from eligible organizations with innovative projects that support community-based direct service, ecosystem and community power building, and/or sustainable practices that drive food justice for Indigenous children.
- They encourage you to apply if your organization is implementing a project that:
- Supports access to, advancement of, and rematriation of traditional, nutritious, and affordable foods;
- Shifts control and stewardship of food resources to Indigenous communities to benefit children;
- Enhances the ability of Indigenous children to respond to their needs for healthy, culturally relevant Indigenous foods; and/or
- In any one of a number of ways, helps your community create new pathways to support food justice for Indigenous children.
- Nutrition Education and School Food
- The foods children eat and encounter early in life, whether at home or in school, set the stage for their preferences and habits as they grow up. Yet over half of children in the United States fail to meet the recommended intake of key food groups, such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. There are large gaps between what they know will help children thrive and what is available to them both in and out of school.
- Across the United States, forward-thinking schools, community-based nonprofits, and policy-makers are working to transform the school food system so that children can eat free, healthy, and culturally relevant meals. Innovative organizations from Appalachia to Arizona’s White Mountain Apache Reservation and beyond are working tirelessly to give children opportunities to learn about, grow, gather, and cook food themselves, and create good habits to last a lifetime.
- Through the Food Justice for Kids Prize, Newman’s Own Foundation invites applications from eligible organizations with innovative projects that support community-based direct service, ecosystem and community power building, and/or sustainable practices that drive enhanced nutrition education and/or nutritious school food.
- They encourage you to apply if your organization is implementing a project that:
- Supports children learning about, growing, gathering, or cooking healthy, nutritious, culturally relevant foods;
- Shifts school policy, practices, and/or systems so that children have access to healthy school meals; and/or
- Supports nutrition education and/or nutritious food in schools in any one of a number of ways.
Eligibility Criteria
- The following types of organizations are eligible to apply:
- 501c3 Public Charities
- Federally recognized tribes
- Indian tribal governments (IRS, section 7871)
- U.S. Public Schools and School Districts
- U.S. governmental entities or affiliated organizations that are eligible to receive 501c3 funding
- You may also apply via a 501c3 Public Charity Fiscal Sponsor
Ineligible
- Newman’s Own Foundation does not fund:
- Organizations that discriminate on the basis of religion, race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, political beliefs, disabilities, or any other protected categories
- Lobbying or political activities
- Major research projects
- Any commercial business
- Any litigation that is underway, contemplated, or completed, or organizations that use litigation as a primary tool to carry out their mission
- Other private foundations, Type III supporting organizations, or other organizations that require expenditure responsibility by the Foundation
- Direct grants to individuals
For more information, visit Newman’s Own Foundation.