Sector Articles / Reports / Resources

In regions throughout the US, foundations and philanthropic groups convene panels, conduct webinars and interviews, create press releases, and develop various multi-media products to showcase the impact of philanthropic investment in Black communities. In this section, ABFE has compiled a growing list of these products to document the evolution of Black male initiatives in philanthropy and to highlight data of particular interest to members and colleagues throughout its networks.

19 results found

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Mobilizing Money and Movements: Creative finance for food systems transformation

May 24, 2022

The report Mobilizing Money and Movements: Creative finance for food systems transformation provides investors with a roadmap of creative finance strategies that support entrepreneurs, farmers, activists, and social movements to transform local food economies. Conducted by the Global Alliance for the Future of Food and Transformational Investing in Food Systems Initiative (TIFS), this report showcases six food-focused initiatives that have incorporated unique investment strategies that blend a spectrum of financial capital to both stimulate social enterprise and achieve sustainable, equitable, and secure food systems.

Measuring Racial Equity in the Food System: Established and Suggested Metrics

May 1, 2019

The U.S. food system has created and been shaped by racial injustices since its inception. The ways in which racial injustice is made manifest through our food system are sometimes quite clear and other times murky at best. Data is a powerful tool that can either illuminate or obstruct the reality of injustice. Disaggregating data by race can shed light on systemic oppression.This report identifies metrics related to racial equity in the food system that are either in use by organizations currently or have been recommended, whether in a publication or through an interview. By documenting the current landscape in this area, this report provides a foundation for the Michigan Good Food Charter Shared Measurement Advisory Committee to consider and select a set of metrics that can be used at state (Michigan) and local levels to track progress towards an equitable food system.The metrics in this report can also provide a foundation for other interested organizations to track progress. To identify metrics presented in this spreadsheet, over 100 sources were scanned from reports and peer-reviewed literature touching on race or ethnicity and the food system. Duplicate metrics found in multiple sources were included only once. Personal communication (either interviews or emails) with about a dozen food system experts added several additional suggested metrics and insight on the structure of the list.

Food Systems & Access to Capital

April 1, 2019

The food system comprises a highly diverse range of activities that are central to building healthy, sustainable, resilient, economically thriving communities. Historically, the broader 'system' has not been well-defined in the context of development finance and this has limited its access to financing tools. This white paper is part of a series examining the potential creation of a food systems asset class which supports the market growth of local and regional food systems which meet the economic, social, environmental, and cultural needs of communities throughout the country. There is groundbreaking potential for development finance agencies at the state and local level to support food businesses and projects.This paper focuses specifically on financing that provides access to capital, outlining this category of tools and demonstrating how they can be utilized for various types of food-related endeavors. This paper will notably focus on small businesses, micro-enterprises and entrepreneurs. For simplicity, these enterprises will generically be termed "small businesses" throughout this paper.

The Challenge of Change: Harnessing Discovery, Engagement, and Learning to Achieve Food and Nutrition Security

January 1, 2019

Association of Public & Land-Grant Universities established the Challenge of Change commission to examine food security challenges and make recommendations on the actions required by public research universities to meet global food needs by 2050. The Commission — comprised of prominent university, government, non-governmental organizations, and business leaders — unveiled their report and action plan, which centers on harnessing the vast academic, research, and leadership capabilities of public research universities to address the interdisciplinary challenges of food and nutrition security.

Children In The Fields: The Stories You Should Know

January 1, 2019

Child labor in the U.S. is all but invisible, and very few people are rushing to correct that misconception. This is because it's in many people's interests to keep child labor hidden. It's in the employer's interest, because it keeps farmworker wages depressed; it's in the consumer's interest, because it keeps grocery costs down; and it's in the parents' interest, because 'many hands make light work.' (Since it is legal, parents take their children to the fields to make sure the most money is earned.) When children labor in the shadows, they carry these burdens of low wages, low costs, and higher pay on their own shoulders.That's why Children in the Fields Campaign (CIFC) is bringing farmworker children out of the shadows and into the light by publishing this report. Throughout this publication, farmworker children tell us, in their own words, when they started working, what they are harvesting, and how they are feeling.

Hungry at the Banquet: Food Insecurity in Louisiana 2018

December 13, 2018

Despite being a foodie destination, Louisiana suffers from a food gap, which is the failure of the market economy to serve the basic human needs of those who are the most impoverished.Louisiana has the second highest rate of food insecurity in the nation and it is rising faster than in the rest of the country.Forty-six of the sixty-four parishes in Louisiana have food insecurity rates of 15 percent or higher, and some as high as 34.4 percent.1 in 4 Louisiana families rely on SNAP to meet their monthly food needs, twothirds of whom are children. Poverty rates were consistent and consistently high in Louisiana between 2013 and 2017, despite the fact that WIC usage declined significantly during this time period, and SNAP usage declined until 2016, when there was a 42 percent increase, possibly due to its link to state Medicaid expansion implemented in 2016.Louisiana is replete with food deserts, which are defined by the USDA as places with a dearth of healthy and affordable food options, such as fullservice grocery stores and/or farmers markets within a convenient travel distance (one mile for urban areas and ten miles in rural areas).

The USDA Summer Food Service Program in Coös County, New Hampshire

October 30, 2018

When schools close in the summer, children who depend on school nutrition programs can lose accessto regular meals. To help bridge this gap, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) works with state agencies to identify sponsors and meal sites to provide free lunchesin the summer to eligible school-age children. This paper reports on the results of interviews withprogram sponsors and site staff in four communities in Coös County, New Hampshire. Discovering how thisprogram works on the ground and understanding the experiences of program sponsors and staff can help toinform efforts to serve eligible children.

The Food & Fitness Community Partnerships: Results From 9 Years of Local Systems and Policy Changes to Increase Equitable Opportunities for Health

September 1, 2018

The Food & Fitness (F&F) community partnerships, funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation from 2007 to 2016, were established to create community-determined change in the conditions that affect health and health equity in neighborhoods. The focus of the workhas been to increase access to locally grown good food (food that is healthy, sustainable, fair, and affordable), and safe places for physical activity for children and families in communities with inequities across the United States through changes in policies, community infrastructure, and systems at the local level. This article describes the outcomes related to systems and policy change over 9 years of community change efforts inthe F&F partnerships. Characteristics of the F&F communities where the work took place; the change model that emerged from the work; efforts and changes achieved related to community food, school food, and active living/built environment; overall factors in thecommunity that helped or hindered the work of the partnerships; and a depiction of the community-determined process for change employed by the partnerships are described. Local systems and policy change is a long-term process. Community-determined effortsthat build capacity for systems change, commitment to long-term funding, and provision of technical assistance tailored to community needs were elements that contributed to success in the F&F work. Achieving intermediate outcomes on the road to policy and systems change created a way to monitor success and make midcourse corrections when needed.

A Guide to Using The Creative Curriculum® for Infants, Toddlers & Twos to Support Farm-to-ECE Models

September 1, 2018

One of the most widely used curricula is The Creative Curriculum® for Infants, Toddlers & Twos. This comprehensive, research-based curriculum is designed to help teachers provide experiences that promote learning through play, exploration, and discovery—a natural fit for farm-to-ECE. Teachers can use The Creative Curriculum® strategies and resources to provide meaningful learning opportunities that build on young children's innate interest in and curiosity about food and its connections to their lives and the world around them. This guide explores how teachers can use The Creative Curriculum® for Infants, Toddlers & Twos and associated resources as a foundation to embed farm-toECE learning opportunities into their existing practices.

Racial Equity in Farm to School and Farm to Early Care Education

August 17, 2018

Although many communities suffer from food system inequities, communities of color suffer disproportionately. Racial disparities in health, wellness, education, environment, economics, etc. mean that people of color are even more adversely affected by inequities in our food system. In NC, 1 in 4 children is food insecure but for children of color that percentage is 1 in 3. The challenges are not only race, but they are always race.Learning to unpack systemic racism leads to work which can help examine all forms of marginalization and undofood system inequities to the benefit of all. Racial Equity is a vital issue across the food system, and urgently neededwhere food systems most directly impact children.

Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation’s Farm to Early Care Program: A Foundation for Healthier, Stronger Central Brooklyn Families and Communities

August 7, 2018

Across New York City and the nation, low-income and working families with young children endeavor to raise strong, healthy children; maintain their family's health; find and keep decent jobs and affordable housing; create safe communities; and claim a voice in shaping their neighborhoods. At the same time, within these communities, resilient families and children, skilled and experienced leaders, and many established civic organizations with a history of organizing to improve their neighborhoods have shown the power of local action to promote health, equity and community development.In this policy brief, we describe one effort to mobilize community assets to develop a comprehensive and integrated approach to supporting well-being, prosperity, increased community power and pathways out of poverty. For the past five years, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation (Restoration) has used its farm to early care program as one foundation for an integrated approach to community development. In telling that story, this policy brief seeks to inform efforts to develop the next stage of farm to early care in Brooklyn, inspire others to adapt this approach to their own communities and cities, and share the lessons Restoration has learned from this work. These experiences can also inform initiatives to use improvements in institutional food programs as a starting point for transforming other systems such as senior centers, afterschool programs, and health care centers.

Regaining our Future: An Assessment of Risks and Opportunities for Native Communities in the 2018 Farm Bill

June 1, 2018

This report is an assement of the 2018 Farm Bill and its impact on Native communities.

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