Earth Day Reflections on SAFSF Forum: Ancestral Futures
This year, Earth Day sparks reflection on the existential and urgent need to radically reduce our reliance on the fossil fuel and war economy and invest in nature based solutions, Indigenous land stewardship, food equity and regenerative farming. At the SAFSF Forum this summer, we are reflecting on the conference theme “Ancestral Futures.” How do we act now to be good ancestors to future generations? How do we take action for regeneration over extraction, relationship over exploitation, and abundance over scarcity? We are reminded that the future is not something distant or abstract. It is already present — in the land, in the water, in…
2026 Policy Funding Challenge
A Challenge to SAFSF Members: Invest Boldly in Policy Advocacy and Movement Building The challenges facing our food system—spanning corporate consolidation, land loss, climate change, racial inequity, labor exploitation, access to adequate nutrition, and beyond—make clear that long-term change depends on shifting the policies, systems, and power structures that shape people’s daily lives. Building a truly resilient, just, and democratic food system requires sustained investment in policy advocacy and movement building. Policy change unfolds over years, legislative sessions, and election cycles. Achieving durable policy successes at the Tribal, federal, state, and local levels requires patient, flexible, and sustained investment in…
February Mycelium View
SAFSF Mycelium View SAFSF’s Mycelium View goes deeper—tracking emerging field developments, policy shifts, and systems change efforts from philanthropy and beyond. Read in browser Forward to funder colleague // February 24, 2026 Introducing SAFSF Mycelium View, our new bi-monthly newsletter for funders and movement leaders who want to stay close to the trends, policies, and system change efforts shaping the food and agriculture landscape. Like the mycelium networks that quietly connect and sustain our entire ecosystems underground, this newsletter surfaces important signals for those working toward a more just and equitable food system. While our bi-monthly ‘Network Pulse’ newsletter covers…
Sit Down with Bruce Karmazin, Long-Time Executive Director at Lumpkin Family Foundation
SAFSF Executive Director Clare Fox and Senior Membership Associate Holly Hanes sat down with longtime SAFSF member and recently retired Executive Director of Lumpkin Family Foundation, Bruce Karmazin, to reflect on his career and two decades of membership with SAFSF. With a core focus on promoting health and wellness through sustainable food systems, mental health initiatives, and regenerative agriculture, the Lumpkin Family Foundation is a private, family foundation based in Illinois. At the SAFSF 2025 Forum, Lumpkin Family Foundation celebrated 20 years as a member of Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders. Bruce Karmazin recently stepped down as Executive Director…
Beyond the Stereotypes: A Call to Invest in the Rural Communities that Sustain Us – Reflections from the UnConference
Holly Hanes, SAFSF Senior Membership Associate, shares her reflections from attending the United Philanthropy Forum’s UnConference as an Emerging Leader scholarship recipient. She participated in a transformative session discussing the newly released 10 Principles of Rural Philanthropic Engagement, which provides critical framing for funders seeking to deepen their work with rural communities. This year, I had the pleasure of joining colleagues at United Philanthropy Forum’s UnConference as an Emerging Leader scholarship recipient. United Philanthropy Forum is the umbrella membership organization for Philanthropy Infrastructure Organization (PIO), also known as funder networks or affinity groups. This year’s conference was unique in structure…
Echoes Across Seasons: Reflecting on the SAFSF Forum
This summer, we gathered on the sovereign land Santa Ana Pueblo and learned from Tribal, grassroots, and movement leaders. Our gathering coincided with the violent descent of ICE, and armed military forces in Los Angeles, as hundreds of innocent people were abducted and detained simply for the color of their skin, the language they speak, and their vocation. This was the beginning of a summer of increased political violence, disinformation campaigns, and an attack on frontline communities as well as on the non-profit and philanthropic sectors. We heard from hundreds of our colleagues about the devastating impacts of stalled and…
Making The Case: Why Explore Integrated Capital?
Are you a grantmaker or philanthropist interested in joining the SAFSF Integrated Capital Community of Practice, but need to make the case to the Board, family members, or other leaders in your organization? Or perhaps you aren’t entirely sure that learning integrated capital strategies applies to your charitable impact? Here are some ways to respond to common questions, and make the case for why your participation in the Integrated Capital Community of Practice is a worthwhile investment. “My foundation is focused on our impact through grantmaking. Why would we explore integrated capital approaches?” Traditional grants are powerful, but they often…
Pooled Funds 101: How Collective Funding Increases Impact
Many members of Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders (SAFSF), a national network of nearly 115 diverse capital partners investing in food and agriculture, are responding to the urgency of the moment brought on by slashed federal budgets, while others are still assessing their response. While some funders have deployed rapid response grants or increased funding for grantees who are impacted by federal cuts, others are looking at pooled funds as a more nimble and responsive vehicle to increase impact. Pooled funds can reduce individual and organizational risk (reputational, financial, legal, and otherwise) because you are moving together, not alone.…
Trump signs “Megabill” into law, threatening food security and healthcare for millions
This piece unpacks the passage of H.R.1, aka the “One Big Beautiful Act”, and what it signals for those funding food, agriculture, and community power in this political moment. For questions or to continue the conversation, contact Maggie Mascarenhas, SAFSF Public Policy Manager. In early July, House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and President Trump managed to unite their fractious trifecta in D.C. behind a reconciliation package that slashes trillions of dollars in federal funds that support millions of poor and working class people, rural economies, and the environment in favor of disproportionate tax cuts for the…
2025 SAFSF Forum Recap
Opening Keynote + Plenary | Integrated Capital Main Stage Event | Closing Keynote + Plenary | Field Days | Key Takeaways | Continue the Conversation | Forum Gallery A Transformative Gathering to Redefine the Future of Food Systems Philanthropy The 2025 Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders (SAFSF) Forum was a groundbreaking event on the sacred lands of Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico. More than 360 attendees—from 39 states, Puerto Rico, and the UK—came together for SAFSF’s largest and first-ever sold-out conference. This one-of-a-kind convergence challenged assumptions and amplified bold strategies to address the intersecting crises of our time—climate disruption,…
