
The Food Equity Fund (FEF), administered by the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods (DON), supports projects that address food insecurity and promote health and wellbeing across Seattle’s neighborhoods. Last year, the FEF Starter Fund awards provided a total of $237,500 to 10 diverse community organizations dedicated to improving access to nutritious, culturally relevant food.

The Starter Fund prioritizes community organizations and groups with an annual budget of less than $500,000. The intention is to provide a nimble grant to smaller, grassroots organizations advancing an equitable and sustainable local food system who historically have limited access to institutional funding. The submission process consists of a simple written application and a required virtual interview.
The community organizations received grants ranging from $12,500 to $25,000. These grants fund a wide range of initiatives, including culturally relevant food distribution, fresh cooked meals, health education programs, and traditional food, medicine, resource, and ecology seminars.
Since its inception, the Food Equity Fund has been a cornerstone of Seattle’s efforts to address food insecurity, guided by recommendations from the community and supported by the Sweetened Beverage Tax. The fund continues to expand opportunities for collaboration and innovation in the realm of food justice.
To learn more about the Food Equity Fund and its impact, visit https://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/community-grants/food-equity-fund



Photos courtesy of Naa káani Native Program
What Grantees are Saying
“With the support of the Food Equity Fund, Naa kaani’s Traditional Medicine Program is empowering Indigenous communities to reclaim their food sovereignty and revive traditional food and medicine systems. Our TMP initiatives are equipping individuals with the knowledge and skills necessary for cultivating relationships with traditional foods, while fostering cultural preservation and revitalization. By integrating Indigenous knowledge and promoting food sovereignty, we are sowing the seeds of intergenerational change and nurturing a future where health equity and cultural vitality thrive hand in hand.” –Linzie Crofoot, Traditional Medicine Program Director, Naa káani Native Program
“We greatly appreciate the help and support of the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. The Food Equity Fund grant allowed us to add more variety of foods according to the needs of the people. One of our first projects this funding supported was a community barbecue where our focus was to live with the community and to obtain information on how our food distribution every third Saturday of the month is benefiting families. Currently, ALA is serving more than 50 families and more than 100 people. Our greatest happiness is to satisfy those who need it most and to be able to bring food to their tables.” –Estefana Harry, ALA Garifuna Women.
2024 Starter Fund Grantees
$25,000 to African Diaspora Education and Cultural Marketplace to alleviate food inequity in the Southeast Seattle and Central District area through our Mobile Food Pantry. Operating twice per month, alternating between Othello Park, Genesee Park, Rainier Playfield and Pratt Park, they will provide food boxes with a combination of nutritious non-perishable and perishable food items for individuals and families in need. They will also provide juicing demonstrations and tasting at the above-mentioned parks during the food distribution and weekly classes at the Rainier Community Center.
$25,000 to ALA Garifuna to provide monthly culturally relevant food pantry distribution point for the Garifuna community, serving approximately 175-250 individuals. To meet the culinary and gastronomic needs of the communities served, they will use the fund to purchase proteins and culturally specific ingredients integral to Garifuna cuisine to supplement the fruit, vegetables, and canned foods offered by Food Lifeline.
$25,000 to American Polynesian Organization will serve 75-90 seniors freshly cooked culturally appropriate weekly meals and provide food pantry items of fresh fruits and vegetables for six months. Additionally, the Food Equity Starter Grant will go towards supporting staff.
$25,000 to Amigos de Seattle to coordinate a culturally relevant food box distribution project for fifty families for five months. The impact of this project is to reduce hunger, address food insecurity and improve quality of life for Latino and other low-income BIPOC families.
$25,000 to Angolans Community in Washington to promote health and wellness within the African diaspora in Seattle by providing access to traditional foods which promote overall health. Over eighteen months, the Food Equity Starter Fund will help offer access to culturally significant food boxes to up to 120 families during four distribution events at Curry Temple in Seattle, WA.
$12,500 to Backpack Academy to lead a free Healthy Groceries program, a monthly direct food distribution project for students ages 12-25 from Rainier Valley, Rainier Beach, and New Holly to receive free groceries and an instructional workshop on reading nutritional labels.
$25,000 to Friendly Islands of Tonga Seniors, Youth and Family Services (FITS) to provide monthly culturally relevant grocery to about 50-70 Tongans, Fijians, Samoans and other Pacific Islander families. All grocery distribution events will be held at the Seaview United Methodist Church in West Seattle and are led by Polynesians in the community.
$25,000 to Friends of Francois dba For All to support the ongoing operation and advancement of the Free Food For All program initiatives including Grocery Surplus Recovery and Delivery Program that feeds into Family/Community Box Delivery and the Saturday and Sunday Really (Really) Free Markets over a 9 month period. For All offers a structure for community collaborations that inspires solutions to problems in society. For All reduces and bring awareness to waste, shares and distributes resources, and creates positive ripple effects that strengthen communities and benefit us all.
$25,000 to Marvin Thomas Memorial Fund to shop, box, and deliver nutritious grocery food items to twenty (20) families monthly starting on September 2024 through Feb 2025. The monthly food boxes will help mitigate negative health outcomes in under resourced populations in Seattle, WA. MTMF will work with farmers, local community organizations, food banks and food drives to add culturally responsive food items into each grocery bag.
$25,000 to Naa Kaani Native Program to offer a culturally relevant educational program rooted in Indigenous knowledge. With the Food Equity Fund project, they will engage tribal community and community allies by hosting a culturally relevant food and medicine distribution event, 2 educational seminars focusing on traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), traditional foods and medicines, traditional natural resources, and support a 12-week traditional Indian medicine internship and six 4-week clerkship program.