Our mission is to mobilize diverse capital partners in support of just and sustainable food and agriculture systems.

Featured Work

New Podcast Episode: First Nations Development Institute
The Future of Agriculture in a Time of Crisis Series
Integrated Capital Community of Practice
Join Our Community

Featured Work

New Podcast Episode: First Nations Development Institute
The Future of Agriculture in a Time of Crisis Series
Integrated Capital Community of Practice
Join Our Community

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Upcoming Events

The Future of Agriculture in a Time of Crisis Part 2: Abundant Soil: Farm Finance as a Catalyst for Equity, Resilience, and Regeneration

November 18, 2026
American agriculture is in crisis, and to date systems have not been put in place to sustain agricultural communities and family farms. This series – The Future…

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Gather Round | Post-Midterms Huddle: Building Local & State Power

November 19, 2026
The Gather Round Monthly Membership Calls, held on the 3rd Thursday of every month at 1 pm PST / 4 pm EST, serve as a regular “drop…

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Grocery cart

SNAP Funder Working Group: Advocacy Opportunities Post-Election

November 20, 2026
Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders and Grantmakers In Health have formed a funder Working Group to coordinate a strategic response to the SNAP cuts in H.R.…

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The Future of Agriculture in a Time of Crisis Part 3: Back from the Edge: Rethinking American Agriculture from the Ground Up

December 2, 2026
American agriculture is in crisis, and to date systems have not been put in place to sustain agricultural communities and family farms. This series – The Future…

Learn More ›

The Future of Agriculture in a Time of Crisis Part 2: Abundant Soil: Farm Finance as a Catalyst for Equity, Resilience, and Regeneration
November 18, 2026
American agriculture is in crisis, and to date systems have not been put in place to sustain agricultural communities and family farms. This series – The Future…

Learn More ›

Gather Round | Post-Midterms Huddle: Building Local & State Power
November 19, 2026
The Gather Round Monthly Membership Calls, held on the 3rd Thursday of every month at 1 pm PST / 4 pm EST, serve as a regular “drop…

Learn More ›

Grocery cart
SNAP Funder Working Group: Advocacy Opportunities Post-Election
November 20, 2026
Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders and Grantmakers In Health have formed a funder Working Group to coordinate a strategic response to the SNAP cuts in H.R.…

Learn More ›

The Future of Agriculture in a Time of Crisis Part 3: Back from the Edge: Rethinking American Agriculture from the Ground Up
December 2, 2026
American agriculture is in crisis, and to date systems have not been put in place to sustain agricultural communities and family farms. This series – The Future…

Learn More ›

Recent News

Episode 2: First Nations Development Institute

The Funding Field from Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders (SAFSF) offers insightful conversations with diverse capital partners working to fund and build a resilient, just, and democratic future of food and agriculture. Each episode features candid conversations with leaders in philanthropy, impact investment, and social change who are mobilizing capital, shifting power, and changing systems from the ground up. From on-the-ground insights by frontline communities to trendlines in impact capital and funding food and agriculture, The Funding Field is an essential resource for those seeking greater impact in supporting transformative food systems change. On this episode of The Funding Field, SAFSF Executive Director Clare Fox sat down with Mike…

Farms As Climate Infrastructure

Field Notes offer personal reflections paired with purpose, giving readers a snapshot of on-the-ground experiences. In this piece, SAFSF Membership Manager Holly Hanes shares about her time in Chicago with The Conservation Fund (SAFSF Member) and Carbon Yield for the Measuring Resilient Southland Farms Fund Field Day. Read on for her reflections on how farms are vital climate infrastructure.  This summer I spent a day walking farmland on the edge of Chicago as part of the Measuring Resilient Southland Farms Fund Field Day, hosted by The Conservation Fund (TCF) and Carbon Yield. I came away with a highly unorganized collection of notes on my phone and a much sharper answer…

Integrated Capital is Essential for Systems Change

Across the sustainable agriculture and food systems field, investors, funders, and community-rooted enterprises are confronting a shared reality: single-tool funding approaches cannot solve interconnected challenges.  Before food reaches our plate, it moves through a complex web of market sectors, enterprises, and organizations. Grant funding can be transformative, but it can’t drive systems change alone. To create a ‘good food’ economy –  one that values ecological farming, resilient supply chains, worker protections, community ownership, and equitable access – funders must work together to address the evolving capital needs for food system transformation. We need more regional food hubs, community-serving processing, worker cooperatives, and BIPOC land stewardship. But how do we unlock…

Sit Down with Andrew McElwaine, Former SAFSF Board Member and Retiree, The Heinz Endowments

SAFSF Membership Manager Holly Hanes sat down with longtime SAFSF member and recently retired Vice President, Sustainability, of The Heinz Endowments, Andrew McElwaine, to reflect on his career in food systems and decades of membership with SAFSF.  Andrew McElwaine recently left The Heinz Endowments, where he was responsible for building the foundation’s sustainability-related work, including infusing the principles of environmental and social sustainability across the full range of the organization’s grantmaking. Andrew was previously the Endowments’ first Director of Environmental Programs, returning to the Endowments in 2015 after being president and CEO of Pennsylvania Environmental Council and holding similar positions with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida and the American Farmland…