Starting this summer it seemed the nation overflowed with festivals like Eat Real, marketplaces, farmer’s markets, and parties. I’m spending the holidays in a place where – unlike California – citrus does not drip from trees in winter; where organic food is hard to come by; and where unemployment is high.
If the holidays has you feeling more like filling your soul, I’ve compiled a few different angles on how you can support the cause of good sustainable food and helping people in need.
If you’ve got stock, see the benefits of donating it.
Please add any others or links to lists of lists.
Culinary incubators and entrepreneurial programs to help people start small food businesses. Examples from the Bay Area include La Cocina which supports low income food entrepreneurs as well as the cause of good street food; Women’s Initiative and Renaissance Entrepreneur Center offering business planning and support.
Slow Money provides funding for food entrepreneurs to get started. (The Slow Money Alliance has created a CD-style fund where you can invest your money toward their cause.)
Culinary training and job placement programs like at D.C. Central Kitchen (DC), Homegirl Cafe (Los Angeles), and St. Vincent de Paul (Oakland, CA).
Educational farms focused on exposing kids to sustainable agriculture like Stone Barns (New York) . See more on Sustainable Table.
Helping people eat. Most food nonprofits say just a few dollars can feed several people. When donating look for stats on low non-profit overhead like “97% of your gift will go directly to provide food for people in need.”
- your local food bank or Feeding America
- Oxfam America and Oxfam International
- food security advocates
- urban farming programs, and
- most easy: The Hunger Site where you can click to donate
Small-scale and urban farm programs to teach and enable beginning farmers like Selma Cafe near Ann Arbor MI; Alba Farmers in Salinas, CA; and
Food marketplaces that bring good food close to you and provide an outlet for the makers such as:
- your local farmers’ markets
- artisan food markets like New Amsterdam Market (a New York highlight!)
- street food advocacy groups
Food activism groups creating change on a mass scale such as:
Don’t forget your local NPR stations who often cover news and profiles related to these efforts.
Many city websites compile lists of local nonprofits like this great one from Seattle Global Justice.
