Chicago Region Food System Fund

Created in the early months of the COVID-19 crisis, the Chicago Region Food System Fund focuses on building resilience in the local food system, an area approximately 200 miles from Chicago. The Fund uses a reform and investment approach to support a more equitable, adaptive, and resilient Chicago region food system. This approach embraces experimentation, promotes BIPOC leadership and ownership, and encourages long-term collaboration.

The total support granted by the Fund is $21,523,150 to 205 grantees since June 2020.

Major funders are Amanda Hanley Climate Fund, Builders Initiative, Food:Land:Opportunity, Fresh Taste, Hunter Family Foundation, The Lumpkin Family Foundation, Margot L. Pritzker Fund, and Walder Foundation. The Fund welcomes additional support.

Illinois Food Movement Fund: Nourishing Resilient Leaders

In 2025, federal funding shifts and administrative changes threaten to withdraw major streams of government support from organizations working to ensure access to good food, fair markets, and resilient local food economies across Illinois. In response, a group of aligned funders launched a time-limited, flexible grantmaking collaboration to support grantees during this transition. The Illinois Food Movement Fund is committed to practical strategies and human-centered support to help leaders and teams sustain their work, build emotional resilience, and strengthen organizational capacity.

Funders include Food:Land:Opportunity, Hunter Family Foundation, Little Owl Foundation, The Lumpkin Family Foundation, Margot L. Pritzker Fund, and the Walter S. Mander Foundation.

Midwest Regenerative Agriculture Fund

The Midwest Regenerative Agriculture Fund supports a comprehensive shift to regenerative agricultural practices across the Midwest. It does this by investing in research, education, and outreach efforts to promote a culture of collaboration between universities and regional stakeholders.

Funders include Food:Land:Opportunity, Little Owl Foundation, The Lumpkin Family Foundation, Manaaki Foundation, Walder Foundation, and Walton Family Foundation.

Community / Place-Based Collaborative Grantmaking

Since its inception, Food:Land:Opportunity has supported a thriving urban agriculture system that is firmly embedded in the assets of local Chicago neighborhoods.

Austin Fresh is a collaborative grantmaking program, started in 2020, to increase access to healthy affordable food, support community gardens and local food production, grow food enterprises, and protect and strengthen food assistance programs in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago. Austin Fresh uses a place-based model focusing on listening to community needs and supporting community-owned solutions to make healthy food affordable and plentiful. To address issues of equity and racial justice, Austin Fresh recognizes the need to place Austin on a more just and equitable footing with regard to food access with a total of $1M for each of five years to support the neighborhood. Food:Land:Opportunity works closely with Builders Initiative, The Christopher Family Foundation, The Lumpkin Family Foundation, and the Walter S. Mander Foundation through Austin Fresh.

North Lawndale Fresh is a collaborative grant making program to increase access to healthy affordable food, support community gardens and local food production, grow food enterprises, and protect and strengthen food assistance programs in the North Lawndale neighborhood. The funders involved with North Lawndale Fresh have committed to distribute a minimum of $1M for each of five years to support the neighborhood. Food:Land:Opportunity works closely with Builders Initiative, The Lumpkin Family Foundation, Walter Mander Foundation, and Steans Family Foundation through North Lawndale Fresh.