Danone Institute North America awards $250K in food sustainability research grants

Danone Institute North America (DINA), the White Plains-based not-for-profit established by Danone North America, is awarding $250,000 in the DINA Sustainable Food Systems Initiative that promotes resilient and sustainable local food systems in the U.S. and Canada.

Five teams will receive $50,000 in grant funds to develop and execute their community-based projects. The teams will also participate in trainings and workshops with DINA leaders and partners throughout the next two years to support the development and implementation of their projects. In October, one team will also be awarded an additional $10,000 for the strongest communications plan, as judged by the DINA Board.

In addition to the $50,000 in grant funding, the five teams will participate in trainings and workshops with Danone Institute North America leaders and partners throughout the next two years to support the development and implementation of their projects. In October 2023, one team will also be awarded an additional $10,000 for the strongest communications plan, as judged by the DINA Board.

The five teams receiving grants are:

• La Cajita Mutua (The Collective Box): A Value-Centered Farm-to-Community Sustainable Food Project in Puerto Rico –Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Fundación de Investigación Science and Education, San Juan
• Technology Solutions for Simulating and Stimulating Dietary Change – McGill University, Montreal
• A Recipe4Health in California: Modeling the Planetary and Human Health Impacts of a Holistic, Community-based ‘Food as Medicine’ Program at Scale – Tufts University and Recipe4Health
• Impact of an On-Campus Food Upcycling Program on Food Sustainability and Nutrition Security of College Students – University of Tennessee Knoxville
• Food is the Best Medicine – University of Texas Austin, Ascension Texas, Cooks Nook Austin and Farmshare Austin

“The social and economic effects of changes in the food environment have magnified the fragility and inequity in our food systems, and the 2023 grantees are building community-based programs that can mitigate the impacts on vulnerable communities,” said Dr. Leslie Lytle, DINA president and adjunct professor at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and at the University of Minnesota. “We are inspired by their commitment to create a healthier world through food and look forward to helping them advance their programs in the two years ahead.”