Social entrepreneurs Seth Goldman and Julie Farkas recently announced 11 national grant recipients for the Eat the Change ™ Impact initiative, which launched in March and seeks to encourage climate-friendly eating by awarding $1 million to national and community-based non-profits over the next three years.
The project focuses on plant-based eating, reduced food waste, organic agriculture, biodiversity, sustainable packaging, and access to sustainable foods, according to a press release provided to Lady Freethinker (LFT).
“There needs to be an urgency around climate and public health issues,” said Goldman. “The food we eat every day is our most powerful tool for addressing both challenges, and the National Changemakers we are supporting are working to drive change at the individual, organizational, and systemic levels.”
Announced in July, the first round of Community Changemakers awarded grants to 21 local and state-level groups.
Both Eat the Change Impacts and its Changemakers, like Food for Climate League, are dedicated to explaining the link between food and climate change, and why eating habits are important for everyone.
“All too often, climate-related initiatives try to motivate behavior change through statistics, fearmongering, and a focus on the things we shouldn’t eat,” explained Eve Turow-Paul, Executive Director of Food for Climate League. “Because a food-obsessed global culture with a passion for diverse flavors, textures, and nutrient-rich foods has the power to literally save humankind, we need to re-frame what climate-beneficial eating is, make it easy to partake in, and make these habits relevant to all people.”
La Raza for Liberation, another Changemaker, calls for inclusive conversations about climate-friendly eating.
“The whole concept of plant-based and sustainable eating is very much rooted in an Indigenous value system and diverse cultural traditions, but that isn’t frequently discussed in the mainstream movement,” said Executive Director KR Vargas. “At the same time, Black and Indigenous communities are often most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, so it is crucial to create space for these broader conversations and bring in vital questions around access and equity.”
LFT applauds Eat the Change Impact’s mission, as combating climate change through food choices will help make the world a more compassionate world for all.
