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2026 SAFSF Forum
June 22, 2026 @ 8:00 am – June 25, 2026 @ 5:00 pm EDT
The SAFSF Forum is a unique conference for the full spectrum of funders—including philanthropy, investors, community finance, and intermediaries—to foster collaboration among peers, field leaders, and practitioners across the country around a shared mission for equitable and sustainable food and agriculture. The conference focuses on different approaches to moving impact capital to transform food systems. While funder learning is a central goal, nonprofit movement leaders and food system partners are integral to the event’s success, bringing on-the-ground wisdom and solutions. As we face a moment of profound transformation across non-profit, philanthropy, and food systems, the SAFSF Forum is a gathering place for sense-making, solutions, and solidarity.
The 2026 SAFSF Forum will take place in Savannah, Georgia—a place where Afro-Indigenous stewardship, Gullah Geechee traditions, and Southern agrarian and culinary innovation intersect with today’s climate crisis, land loss, and rural economic disinvestment. The U.S. South is a fulcrum of American food and agriculture: a production powerhouse; a hub for farmworker and H-2A dynamics that shape national food supply; a climate frontline facing extreme heat, hurricanes, and flooding; and a logistics hub where Gulf and Atlantic ports—Savannah among them—move goods globally. Equity, divestment, and ownership struggles are also acutely felt here, from Black land stewardship and heirs’ property challenges to corporate land capture in rural communities forcing displacement of local food systems. Because issues of land justice, climate change, rural economic development, and systems of racism and exclusion converge so intensely in the South, investing in community-led solutions in food and agriculture in the region can offer solutions to the country and the world. Throughout the Forum, we will trace the throughline of Black and Indigenous Agrarianism, uplifting lineages of liberatory organizing, cooperative economics, and rural self-determination that lay the foundation for a climate-resilient, healthy, and equitable food future beyond corporate control.
Request For Proposals
The window for submitting proposals closed Sunday, November 23.
We are seeking proposals for workshops, learning dinners, lightning talks, and field days that align with SAFSF’s mission and goals for the conference. In addition to shaping the 2026 SAFSF Forum, these submissions will contribute to ongoing program development within SAFSF, helping us identify key areas for future events, workshops, and initiatives throughout the year.
To help foster a diverse and representative Forum program that supports systems change in food and agriculture, we invite funders, frontline community and movement leaders, and practitioners who are dedicated to advancing equity and sustainability in food and agriculture to propose a session through this RFP.
To learn more about the RFP process, including session formats, themes, timeline, and more visit this page.
