Growing Justice: The Fund for Equitable Good Food Procurement, a 10-year, $50 million initiative to transform food systems in the United States, has been launched with a total of $11 million pledged to date.

Established by a team of Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC), as well as allied leaders, the fund will work to transform food systems through procurement practices that increase opportunities for farmers, food producers, organizations, and social enterprises led by people of color. In addition, it aims to improve access to “good food,” particularly for marginalized communities. According to the Kresge Foundation, U.S. institutions spend approximately $120 billion on food annually, but the benefits often do not reach the farmers, fishers, food producers and distributors, and other food workers of color from the communities themselves.

Administered by the Amalgamated Foundation, the fund was established by the Rockefeller, W.K. Kellogg, Kresge, Panta Rhea, and Clif Family foundations and the Native American Agriculture Fund. Growing Justice will be guided by the collaboration of field leaders and funders working on an advisory committee to determine grantmaking strategy and decisions, and its first funding opportunity will be announced later this fall.

“In terms of changing the food system and making it available to all—not just from the consumption standpoint but also from the enterprise standpoint—the system has to be more inclusive of BIPOC farmers and women, including in logistics, processing, or anything that takes it from farm to table,” said Betti Wiggins, officer for the Office of School Nutrition, Houston Independent School District, who helped to contribute to the design of the fund. “Growing Justice will provide that opportunity with the training and support these individuals may need.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Onyinye Photography)