The Endowments’ Food Systems work is built on the tenet that all people deserve access to fresh, healthy food. The roots of the Endowments’ efforts in the food systems ecosphere stretch back to 2008 when we contributed inaugural funding for what is now known as Grow Pittsburgh to expand school yard gardening projects that were initiated as part of our summer youth philanthropy program.
Endowments support contributed to the founding of Black Urban Gardeners and Farmers of Pittsburgh in 2019, and to efforts by 412 Food Rescue in 2015 to expand and scale food recovery operations and explore food distribution technology platforms.
Today, our Food Systems initiative builds on this history by focusing its work on eliminating barriers to the access of nutritious food for Pittsburgh region residents and advancing technology and innovation that improves the efficiency and effectiveness of food recovery and distribution systems. We partner with organizations that work to reduce food insecurity, implement policy solutions to hunger and nutrition-related illness, and support urban agriculture in food deserts.
The Endowments believe that food is an important social determiner of health, which in turn affects not only all our primary areas of focus, but also the future of our region. We work with our collaborators to identify obstacles to equitable access to food, support organizations that provide reliable research and data, and inform stakeholders about policy changes that could improve access to food.