$1 Million in Grants From Entrepreneurs Seth Goldman and Julie Farkas

Just when you thought all the news was grim and dark, something good hits the inbox and we had to share. Here, an entrepreneurial couple who wants to change how our food systems impact climate change has just announced a $1 million grant program to support organizations working locally to make an impact on the planet and our health.

Social entrepreneurs Seth Goldman and Julie Farkas, founders of Honest Tea, announced today the launch of a new grant program, Eat the Change® Impact. The organization's goal is to dial back global warming by transforming how we eat, the marketplace, and how consumers think about food.

The Eat the Change mission statement reads: "Our choices about what we eat represent our single biggest opportunity to change our environmental footprint. Eat the Change™ combines marketplace solutions with education and activism to empower consumers to make dietary choices aligned with their concerns around climate and health." 

The couple plans to donate $1 million (or $335,000 per year for the next three years) to national and community-based nonprofits to promote more planet-friendly foods. Goldman is also known as the executive chairman of Beyond Meat, the plant-based protein company based in El Segundo, California, famous for its Beyond Burger, Beyond Sausage and Beyond Ground Meat. He is also a founder of PLNT Burger, the plant-based restaurant chain he runs in the DC area with their son, Jonah.

Any nonprofit interested in applying for grants should start sharpening their pencils. Grant applications open on April 1st and will be accepted through May 15th, 2020.  (All applicants must be 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations and all grants will be awarded by August 1, 2020.)

“There’s a lot of anxiety about what’s going on in the world," Goldman said.  "But there’s one part of our lives everyone is empowered to control, and that’s the food choices we make,” said Goldman.

“Planet-friendly diets do not have to be economically or geographically exclusive,” said Farkas. “There are significant gaps in terms of information and access to planet-friendly diets, but we hope these grants will help close those gaps.”

1. Eating with intention – help people learn more about where their food comes from, how it’s grown, processed, packaged and distributed and its environmental impact.

2. Fact-based science –  promote the analysis, understanding, and education about the link between diet and climate change, with a focus mainly on:

3. Democratizing planet-friendly diets –  invest to expand access and demand for planet-friendly diets in terms of education, distribution, and pricing.

4. Innovation –  support creative and emerging approaches that drive new ways of thinking and eating.

ETC Impact will award annual grants to both national and community-based organizations.  For national grants, Goldman and Farkas expect to award 8 grants in the amount of roughly $20,000. For community-based organizations, the team expects to award between 15-20 grants ranging in size from $5,000-$10,000 to local organizations focused on educating and mobilizing consumers to adopt more planet-friendly diets.
For more information about Eat The Change® Impact, please visit www.eatthechange.org