10 Foundations Funding Food Security Programs
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10 Foundations Funding Food Security Programs in 2026
Where nonprofits can look for funding to fight hunger, expand food access and build stronger local food systems
Food insecurity is not simply a matter of whether enough food exists. It is also a question of access, affordability, transportation, nutrition, health and the resilience of the communities that produce and distribute food.
For nonprofits working in hunger relief, food pantries, community meals, nutrition education, food rescue, school meals, urban agriculture and “food is medicine” programs, that broader definition matters. It also matters to funders.
Some of the largest philanthropic investments in food security are moving beyond emergency food distribution toward programs that improve nutrition, strengthen food systems, reduce food waste, connect food with health outcomes and give communities greater control over their food resources.
For organizations seeking new funding, here are 10 foundations and major philanthropic funders worth researching.
1. Walmart Foundation
The Walmart Foundation is one of the most significant corporate philanthropic players in hunger relief and food access. Its work includes efforts to strengthen communities, improve access to healthier food and support the charitable food system.
Walmart and Sam’s Club have worked with Feeding America for more than two decades, providing billions of pounds of food and hundreds of millions of dollars in grants and other support. The 2026 Fight Hunger. Spark Change. campaign continues that partnership, directing resources toward local food banks and communities experiencing food insecurity.
For nonprofits, however, there is an important catch: not every Walmart Foundation program accepts unsolicited applications. Walmart says its Local Community Grants are currently the principal open application program, while many other initiatives are invitation-only or operate through specific requests for proposals.
Best fit: Hunger relief, healthier food access, community food systems and programs aligned with Walmart’s geographic and philanthropic priorities.
Fundraising strategy: Don’t simply pitch “we need money for food.” Show how the organization is improving access, dignity, nutrition or the efficiency of the local food system.
Walmart Foundation grant eligibility
2. The Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a particularly interesting prospect for organizations working at the intersection of food, health and systems change.
Its current food work extends well beyond traditional hunger relief. The Foundation has committed more than $220 million to food-system transformation, including major investments in Food is Medicine initiatives and regenerative school meals. Its Food is Medicine Impact Fund focuses on expanding access to programs that connect nutritious food with improved health outcomes.
That makes Rockefeller particularly relevant to nonprofits that can demonstrate that food is part of a larger solution.
Best fit: Food systems transformation, Food is Medicine, nutritious school meals, research, innovation and scalable approaches to food access.
Fundraising strategy: Frame the project as a solution to a systemic problem rather than simply a food-distribution expense.
3. PepsiCo Foundation
The PepsiCo Foundation’s Food for Good platform is another important funder and partner for organizations addressing food insecurity.
The Foundation works with communities on food access, farming and economic opportunity. In the United States, Food for Good has partnered with nonprofits to deliver more than 75 million meals, while its broader food-security strategy includes both immediate food access and longer-term agricultural solutions.
Its 2024 giving report also shows grants to organizations working on food access and related community programs.
One caveat: PepsiCo states that it does not accept unsolicited proposals for funding, so relationship-building matters.
Best fit: Food access, childhood nutrition, food distribution, farming, economic opportunity and community-based food security.
Fundraising strategy: Look for partnership opportunities rather than treating the Foundation exclusively as a traditional grant prospect.
4. Conagra Brands Foundation
For food pantries and community organizations, the Conagra Brands Foundation deserves particular attention.
Its stated focus areas include food access, nutrition education, cooking skills, healthy and active lifestyles and selected urban agriculture programs. The Foundation also supports research into hunger and food insecurity.
Its Nourish Our Community program is especially relevant to local nonprofits. In 2025, the program awarded $330,000 to 21 nonprofits across seven states, with grants addressing food insecurity, cooking skills, nutrition education, healthy lifestyles and urban agriculture.
The Foundation also provides capacity-building support to Feeding America partner food banks.
Best fit: Food pantries, hunger-relief organizations, nutrition education, urban agriculture and community food-access programs.
Fundraising strategy: Demonstrate measurable local impact. How many people are served? How many meals? How much fresh produce? What changes for families beyond the immediate meal?
Conagra Brands Foundation Community Impact Grants
5. W.K. Kellogg Foundation
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation is particularly relevant to organizations approaching food security through the lens of equity and community transformation.
Its grant database includes a dedicated “Food, Strong and Equitable Food Systems” focus area. Recent awards demonstrate the breadth of its approach, ranging from relatively small community grants to multimillion-dollar investments.
This is important for nonprofits because Kellogg’s approach is not simply about putting more food into a pantry. It can encompass stronger food systems, community leadership and equitable access.
Best fit: Equitable food systems, community-led solutions, food access, racial equity and systems change.
Fundraising strategy: Connect food insecurity to the structural barriers your community is experiencing—and explain how residents are involved in designing the solution.
W.K. Kellogg Foundation grants
6. Elevance Health Foundation
The Elevance Health Foundation offers a compelling opportunity for nonprofits that can connect food security with health.
Its current philanthropic priorities include Food as Medicine, and the Foundation specifically identifies increasing access to nutritious food for populations experiencing food and nutrition insecurity as a grantmaking goal.
The Foundation reports that between 2021 and 2024 it awarded $30 million to 51 organizations working to reduce food insecurity and advance Food as Medicine approaches.
It has also provided a $14.1 million grant to Feeding America’s Food as Medicine initiative.
For 2026, organizations should pay close attention to the application calendar: the Foundation’s Food as Medicine applications are scheduled to reopen in 2027, according to its current grantseeker page.
Best fit: Medically tailored meals, nutrition programs, food access tied to health outcomes and partnerships between healthcare providers and community organizations.
Fundraising strategy: If possible, measure outcomes beyond meals served—such as improved food security, health outcomes, benefit enrollment or reduced barriers to nutritious food.
Elevance Health Foundation grantseekers
7. CVS Health Foundation
The CVS Health Foundation approaches food insecurity primarily as a community health issue, making it an attractive prospect for organizations that provide food alongside other essential services.
In June 2026, the Foundation announced $1 million in Hometown Fund grants to 20 Rhode Island organizations, including nonprofits addressing food insecurity. A parallel 2026 announcement for Greater Hartford also highlighted food insecurity as a funded community need.
Previous Hometown Fund grants have included $25,000 operating grants and $75,000 programmatic grants, including support for organizations addressing food insecurity.
Best fit: Community food access, health-related social needs, nutrition programs and organizations operating in communities where CVS has a strong presence.
Fundraising strategy: Position food access as part of a broader health and community-wellbeing strategy.
8. General Mills Foundation
Food companies have a natural connection to food security, but the General Mills Foundation illustrates why nonprofits should look beyond product donations.
General Mills has supported food banks, school meals, food rescue and community food systems. Its Foundation has provided charitable grants for food access and has supported initiatives such as Feeding America’s MealConnect food-rescue platform.
General Mills has also described philanthropic investments in strengthening food-bank capacity and addressing food access for vulnerable populations.
Best fit: Hunger relief, food access, food rescue, school nutrition and stronger community food systems.
Fundraising strategy: A compelling proposal should explain how the program improves the food system—not merely how much food the organization distributes.
General Mills community giving
9. The Kroger Co. Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation
The Kroger Co. Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation was created specifically around the intersection of hunger and food waste.
Its Innovation Fund has historically supported entrepreneurs and organizations developing new approaches to food waste prevention and food-system innovation. The Foundation’s first Innovation Fund offered grants ranging from $25,000 to $250,000 per project.
By 2023, Kroger reported that the Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation had provided $54.6 million in grants and $5.2 million through its Innovation Fund.
This is a different funding proposition from a traditional food pantry grant.
Best fit: Food rescue, food waste reduction, innovative food distribution, technology, circular food systems and social enterprises.
Fundraising strategy: If your organization rescues food, quantify the connection between pounds of food recovered and people fed. If you have technology or an innovative distribution model, make that the centerpiece.
Kroger Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation information
10. No Kid Hungry
While No Kid Hungry is not a conventional private foundation, it is an important philanthropic funding source for organizations working to address child hunger.
Its grantmaking supports schools and community-based organizations participating in federal child nutrition programs. Current priorities include expanding participation in the School Breakfast Program and non-congregate summer meals.
The organization notes that its grants can help pay for the infrastructure that makes meal programs work—equipment, refrigerators, coolers, carts, delivery equipment and other operational needs.
Best fit: School meals, summer meals, child nutrition and community organizations working through federal nutrition programs.
Fundraising strategy: Don’t describe the project simply as “feeding children.” Explain the specific barrier preventing children from accessing existing nutrition programs and how your organization will remove it.
What These Funders Have in Common
The biggest lesson from this funding landscape is that “food security” is becoming a much broader funding category.
Funders are increasingly interested in questions such as:
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Can nutritious food reach people who cannot easily access a food pantry?
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Can food distribution be connected to healthcare?
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Can nonprofits reduce food waste while feeding more people?
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Can communities produce more of their own food?
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Can children access meals outside traditional school hours?
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Can organizations improve the nutritional quality of the food they distribute?
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Can technology make food rescue and distribution more efficient?
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Can residents help design the solutions affecting their communities?
That creates an opportunity for nonprofits to move their fundraising language from “we need money to buy food” to “we are building a stronger local food system.”
The first statement describes an expense.
The second describes an investment.
How to Make a Food Security Proposal More Fundable
Before approaching a foundation, turn your program into a measurable investment.
1. Define the problem locally
Don’t rely exclusively on national hunger statistics. Explain what is happening in your community.
How many households are experiencing food insecurity?
Who is most affected?
What barriers prevent people from accessing nutritious food?
2. Quantify the intervention
Instead of saying:
“We provide food to families.”
Say:
“Our program will provide 80,000 nutritious meals to 2,000 households while expanding access to fresh produce and connecting eligible families with SNAP and other nutrition benefits.”
The second statement gives a funder something it can measure.
3. Show the multiplier
Foundations increasingly want to see what happens beyond the initial grant.
A $25,000 grant might purchase food—but it might also fund refrigeration, transportation, volunteer coordination, food rescue technology or a benefits-navigation program that allows the organization to serve more people for years.
4. Build partnerships
Food security rarely belongs to one organization.
Potential partners include:
Food banks + hospitals + schools + farms + grocery stores + community health centers + housing organizations + municipal agencies + universities.
A strong partnership can turn a small nonprofit proposal into a community-wide solution.
5. Tell the human story
Data gets a proposal considered.
People get it remembered.
A strong fundraising story should introduce the person or family behind the statistic—but with dignity. The goal is not to portray people experiencing hunger as helpless. It is to demonstrate how the organization removes barriers and gives people greater stability and choice.
The Bigger Fundraising Opportunity
Food security fundraising is changing.
The strongest opportunities may not come from a foundation with “hunger” written in its title. They may come from a health foundation interested in nutrition, a corporate foundation interested in food waste, a technology funder interested in logistics, an agricultural funder interested in local production or a community foundation interested in economic mobility.
That means nonprofit fundraisers should stop searching for “food grants” alone.
Search for:
food access + nutrition + health + food waste + agriculture + children + economic mobility + community resilience + racial equity + food systems + social determinants of health.
The organizations that can connect those dots will have a much larger funding universe—and a much stronger story to tell donors.
For nonprofits seeking funding, the opportunity is not simply to ask who will pay for the next shipment of food. The better question is: who will invest in building a community where fewer families need emergency food in the first place?
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