Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders (SAFSF) amplifies the impact of philanthropic and investment communities in support of just and sustainable food and agriculture systems.

Featured Work

Job Announcement: Executive Director
SAFSF 2023 FARM BILL PRINCIPLES
Fibers Fund & Policy Platform
"Digging In": SAFSF Documentary Film

Featured Work

Job Announcement: Executive Director
SAFSF 2023 FARM BILL PRINCIPLES
Fibers Fund & Policy Platform
"Digging In": SAFSF Documentary Film

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Upcoming Events

Deadline: October 1—Apply to Serve on an SAFSF Committee

October 1, 2023
SAFSF is accepting Committee Volunteer Applications for service on the Membership, Nominating, and Policy committees for minimum one-year terms beginning January 1, 2024. The deadline for volunteer submissions is October 1, 2023 and notifications…

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Building Support for WIC: Opportunities for Philanthropic Advocacy

October 10, 2023
Co-hosted by SAFSF and Grantmakers in Health (GIH) -- This panel will discuss the current opportunities and challenges facing WIC, including how we can best uplift the…

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In the Kitchen Call: Opportunity Areas for Funding & Collaboration in Regenerative Agriculture

October 11, 2023
These SAFSF member-only calls are designed to evoke the warmth, nourishment, and welcomeness you feel when you are “in the kitchen”. Join fellow SAFSF members for bi-monthly…

Learn More ›

Digging In Virtual Screening - All Welcome!

October 16, 2023
Come one, come all! Join us for the an open virtual screening of the SAFSF-produced documentary Digging In. This film is designed to help funders understand concentration and consolidation, land access,…

Learn More ›

Deadline: October 1—Apply to Serve on an SAFSF Committee
October 1, 2023
SAFSF is accepting Committee Volunteer Applications for service on the Membership, Nominating, and Policy committees for minimum one-year terms beginning January 1, 2024. The deadline for volunteer submissions is October 1, 2023 and notifications…

Learn More ›

Building Support for WIC: Opportunities for Philanthropic Advocacy
October 10, 2023
Co-hosted by SAFSF and Grantmakers in Health (GIH) -- This panel will discuss the current opportunities and challenges facing WIC, including how we can best uplift the…

Learn More ›

In the Kitchen Call: Opportunity Areas for Funding & Collaboration in Regenerative Agriculture
October 11, 2023
These SAFSF member-only calls are designed to evoke the warmth, nourishment, and welcomeness you feel when you are “in the kitchen”. Join fellow SAFSF members for bi-monthly…

Learn More ›

Digging In Virtual Screening - All Welcome!
October 16, 2023
Come one, come all! Join us for the an open virtual screening of the SAFSF-produced documentary Digging In. This film is designed to help funders understand concentration and consolidation, land access,…

Learn More ›

Recent News

Job Announcement: Executive Director

At a critical moment of continued and sustained transformation, SAFSF seeks a dynamic, visionary, and equity-driven leader as its next Executive Director. The ideal candidate will be a strategic and tactical leader and expert relationship builder with a strong equity lens. They will bring 7+ years of philanthropic or nonprofit leadership experience in sustainable food and agriculture systems. Reporting to the Board of Directors, the Executive Director will work closely with board and staff to articulate and implement the next strategic direction for SAFSF’s work. The position requires a strong vision for the role of networks as agents of purposefully disruptive change as well as deep relationships with, and appreciation…

SAFSF & NASDA: 10-Years of Opportunities

The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) represents the elected and appointed commissioners, secretaries, and directors of the Departments of Agriculture in all fifty states and four U.S. territories. The national entity is further organized into four regional associations: NEASDA, MASDA, SASDA, and WASDA, and several issue-specific committees.   A core function of NASDA is to facilitate consensus-building among its members around agriculture policy and program priorities they seek to influence at the federal level. Of course, state Departments of Agriculture are also responsible for administering dollars that come through federal legislation – including the farm bill – directly to the states.  Additionally, good policy ideas and public-private partnerships…

SAFSF Member Policy in Action: Agua Fund

We are excited to bring back the SAFSF Member Spotlight in our monthly Policy Connection Newsletter, highlighting SAFSF members who are funding food and agriculture policy advocacy at the federal, state, tribal, and/or local levels. Please fill out this Google Form or email SAFSF Policy Associate Maggie Mascarenhas at [email protected] if you are interested in featuring your policy work here.  Policy Serves Those Who Show Up by Ann Mills, Executive Director, Agua Fund  Since its inception, the Agua Fund has supported policy advocacy as a means of advancing the foundation’s mission to protect the natural environment, help the disadvantaged, give voice to the underserved, and promote democratic values and full participation in civic life. …

Physics, Philanthropy and Affirmative Action 

by Renee Catacalos, SAFSF vice president, strategy and impact Newton’s Third Law of Motion says that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. This immutable relationship between physical objects makes productive activity like forward motion by walking, swimming, tires rolling or wings flapping possible. Depending on the makeup of the two objects that are interacting with each other, it can also have destructive results, like a wrecking ball meeting a wall of bricks and mortar, a windshield meeting a flying bug, or much worse. (I was definitely not a science major, by the way.) Does this law hold for society and our interactions as people? It seems like some…

August 2023 Policy Connection

Policy Strategy Tip for Funders Independent Sector recently released the findings of a new research study designed to provide insights on how advocacy and civic engagement may vary by organization size, geography, communities served, and leadership demographics. The study–based on a nationally representative quantitative survey and complementary qualitative interviews of nonprofits–is the first of its kind in more than 20 years.  Key data points:  Only 31% of nonprofits report engaging in advocacy or lobbying over the last five years, less than half of the percentage of nonprofits that reported ever lobbying in 2000 (74%).  In 2000, over half of 501(c)(3) public charities (54%) knew they could support or oppose federal…