The Missing Ingredient: How Financing Is the Key Driver in Food Systems Transformation

This year in the United States, state governments and organisations faced dramatic shifts in funding. Programmes that supported small, immigrant farmers were cancelled. Farm to School funding was reduced to a fraction of its former size. A recent government shut down left millions without nutrition assistance, placing local grocers who serve many of these communities in a perilous situation.

More than ever, amid extreme weather events, persistent malnutrition, and chronic disease, the need for food system transformation is clear. Yet even the most well-intentioned public efforts fluctuate and remain vulnerable. Relying solely on government programmes to fund change is proving increasingly unsustainable.

Food system transformation cannot rely on the public sector alone.

Over the past several years, I have worked at the state level with non-profits and local governments to reshape the food system. As a non-profit employee, I learned the importance of designing high-quality programmes that make effective use of grants and special federal funding. However, I often managed activities with the underlying concern that these non-revenue-generating projects would struggle to survive once funding ended.

Later, as a government worker, I found myself listening to businesses and community members, brainstorming on policies to support local food systems, while knowing that state budgets are constantly pulled by competing priorities and political seasons. For example, a small state grant programme supporting beginning farmers and fishers faced cuts as funding was redirected to urgent infrastructure needs, including rebuilding our city’s primary bridge.

At times, it felt as though those of us working to change the food system were merely chasing our tails, endlessly chasing short-term solutions. Additionally, food businesses shared difficulties accessing capital to scale local and sustainable food production. Through deeper engagement with food-focused financing products and organisations, I began to see things differently. I encountered a regional credit union that focuses on food system transformation, specialised micro-loans for farmers and fishers with a three-day decision window, and international financial institutions funding regenerative agricultural businesses. It brought me hope. Better business and better financing can pioneer an innovative and profitable food future.

True food systems transformation requires innovative public-private financing.

The Food Systems Finances e-course has reinforced this for me. Instead of depending on fluctuating government funding for nonprofits and food business development, we need to leverage private financial institutions to maintain momentum beyond political shifts. While transformation takes time, aligning capital with clear and measurable outcomes creates real opportunities for progress.

Today, many financing entities are geared towards meeting environmental metrics. Given the complexities of agriculture, forestry, and fishing, food systems investments are often overlooked. Likewise, the low margins and delayed returns, particularly in regenerative agriculture, require stronger evidence, better data, and deeper advocacy to engage funders meaningfully. Despite these challenges, financing products specially tailored for food businesses are crucial for a sustainable and resilient food system.

The recipe for food system transformation has been missing a critical ingredient. Financing can tie together the impacts of governments, non-profits, and businesses concocting radical, long term sustainable changes – for people and the planet. I believe it is a critical moment for private finance to step forward and help secure the future of our food systems.

—
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views, policies, or positions of any organisation with which the author is currently or has previously been affiliated.