Funding priorities 2015-2019

Food

We believe there are ways to produce higher quality food that are better for people, the environment and livestock. We support community involvement in food production, the development of a more positive policy position for sustainable food and diets, and reduced use of harmful pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics and fossil fuels.

Below, you can find information about our funding priorities for Food.

Please note this information relates to our priorities under our 2015-2019 strategy. You can find information on our current priorities in our latest strategy and under our work.

Innovation in alternative approaches

We support:
  • Inventive projects that can test and demonstrate viable alternative approaches to mainstream corporate food production, retail, and consumption, or
  • The development of food production methods that do less harm to the natural environment, and improve the lives of people, local communities and livestock, or
  • Work that influences local food buying and selling and promotes the wider uptake of sustainably produced food.
Applicants must:
  • Develop new methods which can be replicated, or influence policy and practice more widely.
We want our funding to:
  • Increase supply and demand for food that is produced more sustainably.

Food and wellbeing

We support work that:
  • Increases people’s understanding of the role of food in their lives, and the impact it can have on personal and community wellbeing, and
  • Changes the preferences, attitudes and behaviour of the public towards food, and
  • Takes place on a scale that influences and drives how food is produced, transported, marketed and consumed, and can influence significant numbers of people.
Applicants must:

Work in an engaging, persuasive and participatory way.

We want our funding to:
  • Support the sharing of new ways of changing people’s food habits – both radical and incremental.

Working towards a more coherent food sector

We support work that:
  • Forges closer links between third sector organisations and food producers, distributors and consumers, or
  • Links advocates of change in the food system more closely with relevant academics and sources of evidence, or
  • Persuades mainstream food businesses, policy makers, and the public to engage with food sustainability and to seek sustainable sources of supply.
Applicants must:
  • Have the capacity and skills to engage policy makers at national regional and local level, and
  • Have a track record of gathering and presenting persuasive, evidence-based arguments.
We want our funding to:

Enable organisations from across the spectrum of food interests to work more closely together to address system-wide issues.