UNFI Foundation- Community Grants

_Note: Starting this year, only organizations nominated by a UNFI associate will be eligible for consideration._

UNFI Foundation Mission

Empowering changemakers to create a more sustainable and equitable food system.

Community Grants

Our Community Grants program is specifically designed to bolster initiatives that improve food access for our communities.  This internal process prioritizes funding for organizations that have an impact where our associates live, work, or are already volunteering/engaged. These grants support general operating costs and project-specific costs and are reviewed on a rolling basis.

We support non-profits in our communities whose main mission or innovative programs focus on:

• Climate Smart Agriculture
  • Supporting regenerative producers who work hard every day to grow healthier food. Sustainably produced food means healthier soil, cleaner air, and more tasty, nutritious food for families.
• Food Access Innovations
  • Improving food access in underserved areas through innovative programming and systems change. The principal strategy for this focus area is wasted food prevention, but we are also interested in alternative distribution models, nutrition incentive programs, and other food as medicine approaches.
• Food Equity
  • Nourishing equity, inclusion, and justice in the food system through equitable food business development.
• Local Food Economies
  • Empowering local food economies for inclusive and resilient food systems.

Eligibility

_You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website._

• a 501(c)(3) non-profit or operating under a fiscal sponsor
• Recipients must have a presence and influence positive change within communities in the United States or Canada.

Ineligibility

• We do not fund:
  • Conferences
  • Direct grants to individuals
  • International organizations or projects
  • Political campaigns and legislative lobbying efforts
  • Endowments
  • Private foundations
  • Projects that exclusively serve religious purposes
  • Governmental agencies
  • Sponsorships, advertising, or fundraising