Small Grants, Big Impact: Advancing Food Justice Through Community-Led Action
In early January 2026, nine grassroots organizations demonstrated how community-led approaches supported by small but impactful microgrant investments—as little as $1500— created meaningful outcomes and planted seeds of change—strengthening food sovereignty, cultural connection, and local resilience beyond mainstream emergency food aid.
Funding to support these initiatives was made possible through the efforts of the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights (JHC) and Righting Relations Canada, with generous support from the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). Delivered as part of the Food Security and Food Justice Ecosystem of Edmonton (FSFJE) project, these microgrants reflect a shared commitment to food justice, strengthening dignity, deepening community care and fostering belonging.
Projects ranged from community gardens and youth-led land-based learning to culturally rooted cooking programs, food education, and nutritious snack initiatives, engaging children, seniors, newcomers and refugees, ethnocultural communities, and individuals living in supportive housing. What emerged was a powerful message: when communities are given resources and trusted, they are capable of shaping creative solutions that are relevant, dignified, and sustainable.
Learnings along the way
Microgrant funding supported projects that transformed unused land into shared growing spaces, connected families to cultural foods, and created opportunities for intergenerational learning, mentorship, and leadership. These initiatives emphasized education, skill-building, and collective care—core elements of food sovereignty that move away from charity-based models and toward rights-based solutions.
Several projects challenged assumptions about intergenerational learning by highlighting youth as bridges to knowledge and connection. Food education programs helped children and youth reconnect with cultural foods while empowering parents with nutrition and budgeting knowledge, reducing food-related stress and strengthening family relationships. It also highlighted that food-growing knowledge is often shaped by opportunity, privilege, and gendered roles, which must be dismantled to ensure equity and strengthen knowledge-sharing. Cultural kitchens and youth-led initiatives fostered cross-cultural exchange, challenged dominant food systems, and reimagined relationships to land and farming, while emphasizing the importance of empowering youth to shape the future of localized agriculture.
Despite operating with very limited budgets, these initiatives demonstrated that innovation in food sovereignty does not require large-scale funding. What united the projects was a commitment to equity, relationship-building, and the belief that those most impacted by food insecurity are best positioned to lead change.
Challenges and Structural Barriers
Grassroots organizations continue to face systemic challenges, including limited access to land and infrastructure, regulatory barriers, volunteer capacity constraints, and short-term funding cycles that undermine long-term stability. Recipients also identified challenges related to community safety and well-being, including vandalism, theft, volunteer burnout, and transportation barriers. These challenges highlight the need for sustained long-term investment, supportive policy environments and advocacy, great accessibility and cross-sector collaboration. Addressing food security requires not only sustainable programming, but systems change rooted in dignity, innovation, collaboration, and participation.
Looking Ahead: Hopes for the Future
Both microgrant recipients and attendees of the online sharing circle shared deep admiration for the projects and initiatives showcased, especially around their creativity, vision, implementation and impact all achieved with limited resources.There is strong hope for continued partnership, shared learning, deeper collaboration and collective advocacy across communities. Many groups expressed aspirations to build on existing momentum by expanding or securing sustainable programming, training community members to lead future sessions, securing land and improving infrastructure, while strengthening community-led food initiatives that support emerging leaders and advance food systems grounded in cultural diversity, environmental sustainability, and human rights principles.
A Call to Action
These stories remind us that food security is not just about access—it’s about agency. Supporting small, grassroots initiatives means investing in people, culture, and community wisdom. It means recognizing that alternatives to emergency food aid already exist—and can thrive when given the chance.
We invite funders, institutions, community partners and individuals to continue supporting initiatives that prioritize dignity, cultural relevance, and community leadership. By championing local solutions and amplifying community voices, we can cultivate innovation to grow, and a food system that nourishes everyone—today and for the future.
This was one of numerous learning sessions hosted to mobilize knowledge from the community to inform the work of the Food Security and Food Justice Edmonton Collaborative (FSFJE) supported by the City of Edmonton Community Safety and Well-Being Grant. We would like to specifically thank the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) for the generous support to fund the microgrant initiatives featured.