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Who Will Fund the Local Foods Movement How Minnesotas Foundations Helped Build Our Local Food System and What the Fut

Study Partners. Alida Sorenson, RSDP Intern; CFANS senior, nutrition majorDenise Gamble, MA, Director of Staff Education and Development, University of Minnesota Library SystemMargaret Adamek, PhD, Research Fellow, UMN Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships. What is movement like now and w

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Who Will Fund the Local Foods Movement How Minnesotas Foundations Helped Build Our Local Food System and What the Fut

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    1. Who Will Fund the Local Foods Movement? How Minnesota's Foundations Helped Build Our Local Food System and What the Future May Hold Margaret Adamek, PhD UMN Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships February 5, 2009

    2. Study Partners Alida Sorenson, RSDP Intern; CFANS senior, nutrition major Denise Gamble, MA, Director of Staff Education and Development, University of Minnesota Library System Margaret Adamek, PhD, Research Fellow, UMN Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships

    3. What is movement like now and what are the needs? Develop strong, regional supply chains Aggregation, post-harvest handling, distribution, fair prices More farmers/more farmland Increase consumer demand & supply More market opportunities Locally grown served in schools, foodservices, and retail Capacity building/leadership development

    4. BIG questions…. What is the role of foundations in building local food systems in Minnesota in coming years? How can foundations – individually and collectively - be more strategic and intentional about their impacts on Minnesota’s local food systems?

    5. Research questions To what extent do the grants given by foundations for local foods-related work match the stated, long-term impacts desired by communities? Is there a balance in investment between rural and urban communities? Which types of programs receive funding and from whom?

    6. Study Goals Interpret past and present foundation priorities around local foods through patterns of investments Determine if these investments meet current and future needs associated with developing local food systems Identify emerging aggregate patterns across philanthropic sector Clarify the dimensions of Minnesota’s local foods movement through keyword development (e.g. sustainable agriculture, small farmers, education, community gardens, farmers markets, indigenous food systems)

    7. Project Methodology Research by “Triangulation” MCF database searches Annual reports & 990s via Guidestar Website database searches Emails/Phone calls to grantmakers, grantees to confirm and piece together greater detail Keyword development Database development from the above Spreadsheet analysis of key questions

    8. What are total dollars funded in recent years for local foods-related work?

    9. Top Local Foods Funders

    10. How many grants are awarded with an urban focus? A rural focus?

    11. What is the total dollars funded for urban and rural local foods efforts?

    12. Top 25 Local Foods Grantees

    13. Top 12 Local Foods Grantees

    15. Top 10 priorities by Foundations Cultural diversity Entrepreneurship Community gardens Farmers markets Youth development Sustainable farming practices Native foods Food bank/hunger/fresh produce Education – farmer/grower/children Marketing

    16. Top 10 priorities by Foundations Cultural diversity Entrepreneurship Community gardens Farmers markets Youth development Sustainable farming practices Native foods Food bank/hunger/fresh produce Education – farmer/grower/children Marketing

    17. Top 10 priorities by Foundations Cultural diversity Entrepreneurship Community gardens Farmers markets Youth development Sustainable farming practices Native foods Food bank/hunger/fresh produce Education – farmer/grower/children Marketing

    18. Top 10 priorities by Foundations Cultural diversity Entrepreneurship Community gardens Farmers markets Youth development Sustainable farming practices Native foods Food bank/hunger/fresh produce Education – farmer/grower/children Marketing

    19. Top issues funded in urban areas

    20. Top issues funded in rural areas

    21. Of Interest… Many small grants in Twin Cities are either not sought, not awarded, or not accessible to rural Minnesota Largest number of native foods grants are to Twin Cities-based organizations Very few native foods funding beyond White Earth Reservation in rural communities

    22. Of interest Worker rights issues are not designated as ‘agriculture’ in MN Council on Foundations dbase, therefore not included Very few animal agriculture grants made that are filed as ‘agriculture’ in dbase. Very few non-University animal agriculture grants Some grants that support work related to the Farm Bill or clean water are not shown due to organizational request

    23. Of interest 4 grants for distribution in 6 years 1 grant for food processing in 6 years Of the MANY entrepreneurship grants awarded, the vast majority were given to: White Earth Land Recovery Project (rural) Youth gardening/entrepreneurship programs (urban) Just a few awarded to MN Project and LSP for farmer-related entrepreneurship

    24. Conclusions Cultural capital work has been important to foundations Youth development/addressing ‘nature deficit disorder’ for urban kids a priority Hunger is related to local agriculture; worker rights is not Animal agriculture is not on the radar screen of foundations No significant investment on processing, storage and distribution

    25. Conclusions Small organizations with strong grantsmanship are awarded numerous grants A primary role of foundations in the local foods movement is to address the interface between cultural diversity and food/agriculture Most infrastructure improvements are funded by out of state funders

    26. Conclusions Two NGO organizations serve the primary role of building infrastructure Two NGO organizations address farmland conservation, new farmer training, and distribution Serious underinvestment in infrastructure development – who will fill the gap, particularly now that the Bush Foundation will not support it?

    27. Changes Over Time General, steady significant increase in investment across foundations and in overall total dollars Significant decrease in support due to change in Bush and Kellogg Foundation priorities

    28. What is movement like now and what are the needs? Develop strong, regional supply chains Aggregation, post-harvest handling, distribution, fair prices More farmers/more farmland Increase consumer demand & supply More market opportunities Locally grown served in schools, foodservices, and retail Capacity building/leadership development

    29. Study Outcomes Share results with Minnesota foundations and encourage strategic, collaborative thinking around local food systems within philanthropic community Share results with local foods advocacy organizations

    30. Project Challenges Fear of grantees sharing data about their grant sources Some local foods-supportive grants don’t want to be defined as “local foods”: Land Stewardship Project Farm Bill work McKnight Foundation grants for clean water

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