Many of the food producers and food organizations in Santa Barbara County and the central coast are of a size where where grants for under $10,000 will make a substantial impact. Looking to microgrant models like USDA equipment-specific grants, California clean energy rebates, and the success of small-scale community crowd funding and mutual aid, SBCFAN, Pharos Creative, and several outside consultants created the Food Justice Microgrant Program. This program divided the lump sum from Clever Blends and offered up to $5,000 grants in the three categories of Food Justice, Food Sovereignty, and Agroecology. Projects could range from a mobile farmer’s market, to new equipment for indigenous food producers, to funding for future food justice education programming within an existing nonprofit.

I worked with Pharos and SBCFAN on communications strategy, application and asset creation, community outreach, as well as post-grant evaluation of the projects and grant program as a whole, using our existing network of nonprofit clients to help with cross-promotion. Our strategy focussed on assets for wide distribution, including instagram graphics, simple bilingual text blasts, and informational videos. The grant application was crafted to be incredibly flexible within the food justice space, with the opportunity for one on one assistance with our grant committee to workshop potential ideas. Given the number of Mixtec-speaking potential applicants, we also worked with our grant committee and local language justice organizations to provide alternative video application options.