{"id":7,"date":"2021-06-02T21:42:22","date_gmt":"2021-06-02T21:42:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fairfoodnetwork.org\/fairfoodfund2021report\/?page_id=7"},"modified":"2023-05-19T18:19:22","modified_gmt":"2023-05-19T18:19:22","slug":"main-page","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/fairfoodnetwork.org\/fairfoodfund2021report\/","title":{"rendered":"2021 Impact Report"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

\"A<\/p>\r\n

FAIR FOOD FUND<\/p>\r\n

2021 Impact Report<\/h1>\r\n

Meeting the Moment<\/p>\r\n

A letter from our team<\/h2>\r\n

It’s hard to believe it has been nine years since the Fair Food Fund was first seeded. What started as a small pilot has over the past decade bloomed into a national effort with deep roots in the Northeast, a growing presence in Fair Food Network’s home state of Michigan, and an expanded vision of what’s possible.<\/p>\r\n

Fair Food Fund began with a hypothesis that is core to my beliefs: Investing in local food businesses holds potential for big change.<\/b><\/p>\r\n

Such businesses are sources of community nourishment and culture, economic opportunity, and environmental stewardship. And as the pandemic showed us, they build a food system, rooted in place, that is more resilient.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

At five years, we were able to show that this was an investment that worked: Every dollar invested was generating nearly $9 in community benefits inclusive of jobs and local purchasing circulating resources in the local economy.<\/p>\r\n

Even before the COVID induced shockwaves of 2019, our aperture for what was possible – and necessary – had widened. <\/b>In 2019, we made moves to support a broader national vision alongside continued local impact. This included our staff leading this work. At a mission level, we made new commitments to environmental stewardship and social equity, particularly racial equity, with the goal for 50 percent of our investments to support people who are most often overlooked by traditional investors, particularly people who have been marginalized due to their race, ethnicity, and\/or genders. We also reaffirmed our blended investment approach and, when needed, long-term partnerships with high-impact entrepreneurs with a commitment to layering support over time.<\/p>\r\n

The challenges COVID-19 exacerbated affirmed this new approach and spurred additional needs. <\/b>One innovation to emerge from the economic crisis was the development of our Collateral Initiative. This credit enhancement tool was designed to support other business lenders in making investments that may not otherwise be possible. We see this as an ecosystem move that affirms the additive role we aim to play in partnership with other local lenders. In 2021 alone, the Collateral Initiative led to four investments, leveraging $976,500 in support of mission-driven food businesses that are anchors in communities across Michigan and the Northeast.<\/p>\r\n

In addition to our direct investments and business assistance, we also expanded our place-based ecosystem work. This includes two place-based collectives, the emergent Camden Community Food Fund and the Michigan Good Food Fund<\/b><\/a>, where we now serve as administrative manager. While each effort is unique to its local context, what unites these two projects is the commitment to organize an ecosystem of diverse, local stakeholders to come together in support of community-identified priorities. See more on these projects below.<\/p>\r\n

As we reflect on the past decade and these charged past few years, a through line for me is the power of partnerships.<\/b> This includes:<\/p>\r\n