Giving Back
The Simply Organic Giving Fund Grant Program
In 2018, we committed to focusing the Simply Organic Giving Fund Grant Program on addressing an issue that’s especially persistent and critical, but that is often overlooked or misunderstood: food insecurity. We’re working to help organizations across the United States and Canada to nourish the millions of food insecure in our communities by supporting organizations that provide access to healthy, organic food options.
Our grant recipients for this year are: Dion's Chicago Dream Inc., Emergency Food Network, Matthew 25, Project Worthmore, and Multicultural Refugee Coalition.
Learn more about each of these organizations and past grant recipients below, and listen to Tony Bedard, Frontier Co-op CEO, discuss the impact of our Simply Organic Giving Fund Grant program with Food Navigator.
2023 Giving Fund Grant Recipients
Dion’s Chicago Dream Inc.
Dion’s Chicago Dream brings fresh, healthy produce to low-income communities throughout the Chicagoland area, where more than 500,000 people struggle with hunger and food insecurity on a regular basis.
Emergency Food Network
Emergency Food Network’s Mother Earth Farms provides organic produce to local food pantries in Pierce County, Washington. They offer 100+ varieties of fruits, vegetables and herbs to help pantry guests from a wide range of backgrounds access fresh, culturally significant food.
Matthew 25
Matthew 25’s Groundswell Café is a “pay-it-forward” eatery in Cedar Rapids, Iowa that provides guests with access to handmade organic meals — regardless of their ability to pay.
Project Worthmore
Project Worthmore’s Delaney Community Farm supports refugees in the Denver area through community-based food security programs. Dedicated farm shares grow organic, culturally relevant produce, which reaches more than 750 refugee families.
Multicultural Refugee Coalition
Multicultural Refugee Coalition’s social enterprise, New Leaf Agriculture, is a Certified USDA Organic farm that provides meaningful work and fair wages to immigrants, refugees and asylees in Austin, Texas.
Simply Organic's Giving History
Providing consumers the opportunity to use their buying power to support the environmental and social values of organic agriculture has always been part of Simply Organic. Since 2001, we've given back more than $2 million to supporting organic agricultural development and grower communities, including:
- Helping growers in developing countries produce and market certified organic products.
- Building training centers that teach organic agriculture methods and wells that bring fresh water to villages; supporting schools, meal programs and other social projects in grower communities.
- Supporting U.S. organic research and education projects, scholarships in sustainable agriculture, and organic-growing-based social organizations such as urban gardens and community food banks.