What is the Food Security Equity Impact Fund?

In communities of color across the United States, it’s much harder to access fresh, healthy food because of racial and economic barriers. But those challenges don’t define communities. Strength, perseverance and cultural heritage shine brighter than any temporary circumstances.  

Through collaboration with people facing hunger, partner organizations and food banks, the Food Security Equity Impact Fund is helping strengthen communities by co-creating solutions to hunger and dismantling its root causes – so that the light of diversity, equity and heritage can shine brighter than ever before.  

What is the Food Security Equity Impact Fund? 

Established in 2021, the Food Security Equity Impact Fund supports solutions to food insecurity that come from within the communities themselves. Prioritizing communities of color known to be disproportionately impacted by hunger and communities impacted by COVID-19, the fund helps food banks and their partners remove barriers to food access and increases opportunities to access healthy and culturally-preferred foods. It aims to create and deepen community partnerships and center people with lived experiences of hunger in creating a more equitable food system. 

In 2022, 25 grants were awarded totaling nearly $10M for partners and food banks across 22 states and Puerto Rico. 

What Kind of Projects Does the Fund Support? 

Since its inception, the fund has supported community-led solutions that address systemic inequities that have led to long-term food insecurity such as poverty, systemic racism, food deserts, climate change, high food prices and more.  
For example, check out a story about how Second Harvest Food Bank of New Orleans and Greater Acadiana is working with a multi-generational Black-owned farm in rural Louisiana to provide access to fresh produce in their community, while also helping ensure the farm remains operational and thriving.

Why is Prioritizing Communities of Color Important? 

Hunger disproportionately impacts communities of color, according to our internal research. Discriminatory policies and practices, racial prejudice, lack of access to economic resources and opportunities all contribute to elevated food insecurity in communities of color. For example, Black individuals are almost three times as likely to experience food insecurity than white individuals. And the numbers are very similar in Latino and Native American communities. 

The Food Security Equity Impact Fund keeps people most impacted by hunger at the center of the solution and strives to eliminate the root causes of hunger to not only help provide access to healthy food, but also to create long-term solutions to strengthen these communities. 

How to Get Involved