How an Austin grant program addresses food equity, climate solutions

AUSTIN (KXAN) – The City of Austin's Food and Climate Equity Grants program provides direct funding for community-led solutions that allow for transformative change in the areas of food, climate and resilience.

The grants program is designed to fund projects that help people who are impacted by systemic and structural inequities while eliminating issues with health outcomes. Most importantly, the projects are largely designed to benefit the quality of life for all.

The City of Austin's Office of Sustainability is supporting this effort by offering up to $3,000 for projects designed to help those in need.  One of the goals is to build relationships and trust between City of Austin staff and community organizations.

Amanda Rohlich is the food policy advisor with the City of Austin's Office of Sustainability. She said the funding is prioritized for those projects that can engage with impacted groups, including Black, Native American/Indigenous, Latinx and Asian communities.

Youth and young adults, people over 65, those with chronic disease and LGBTQ+ residents are some of the other communities who would benefit, Rohlich said.

KXAN’s Rich Segal spoke with Rohlich about the program, including why they combined food and climate change initiatives into one collaboration. She identified the deadline for submissions, where to submit applications and when the winners will be notified.