Our Impact

The Better Food Policy Fund provides financial resources to councils, communicates the value of food policy councils, and provides opportunities for shared learning.

We have provided $900,000 to 30 food policy councils through three rounds of grantmaking thus far:

• 2024-2025 Grantee Cohort: The Better Food Policy Fund supported an inaugural cohort of 10 food policy councils in 2024 and 2025. Each council was provided $60,000 in unrestricted funding over two years to advance its work.
• Rapid Response Round 1: The BFPF Rapid Response Grant program was created in spring 2025 to provide timely and responsive support to food policy councils facing unexpected funding challenges that impact their work. Eight councils were provided with $15,000 in unrestricted funding to address these challenges.
• Rapid Response Round 2: In fall of 2025, an additional funder stepped up to support the urgent needs of food policy councils in this year of uncertainty and upheaval. Twelve additional councils were awarded $10,000-$15,000 in unrestricted grant funds to address their urgent needs.

 Grantee Map

At the Better Food Policy Fund, we think about evaluation through the lens of systemic change.  This approach moves us beyond conventional metrics by seeking to balance quantitative data by lifting up qualitative information to explore the whole picture of how conditions are shifting.

Ultimately, we expect to see more local policies and plans to support transformational community-based food systems.

Along the way, we will look for quiet indicators of forthcoming change, enabling us to measure long-term systemic shifts in the near future. We will work with and through grantees and stakeholders to identify the subtle signals within their work that indicate a more favorable environment for better food policy.

We believe strengthening food policy councils will lead to better food policy through intermediate impacts such as:

• Increased levels of inclusive and equitable two-way civic engagement around food
• Increased identification, mapping, support, and appreciation of local and grassroots food efforts
• Increased collaboration with and across communities, neighborhoods, and local government agencies or departments

We recognize that how things are done – not just what is done – really matters. We are deliberate in our development of the Fund, and have already seen impacts that help achieve our aim of supporting food policy councils. Observed shifts include:

• Increased sense of validation among food policy councils, especially those that work in relative isolation from other food policy councils
• High engagement and reciprocal learning between members and staff of different food policy councils
• Stakeholder participation in trust-based, relational, and at-large nomination processes to select the Independent Advisory Committee
• Co-creation of communication collateral that will support both food policy councils and fundraising efforts
• High engagement in our inaugural grantmaking round
• Sustained participation by our inaugural cohort of grantees in shared learning opportunities