Food City, a new initiative aimed at creating a more inclusive food ecosystem in the St. Louis metro area, is launching next month.
The new program, from the Serving Our Communities Foundation, will support a range of food-industry workers and consumers from field to shelf. That includes local food entrepreneurs and farmers, policy and direct service organizers, youth and workers hoping to build a career in food, and consumers who want access to fresh, healthy options.
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“Our goal is to really target the entrepreneurs who don’t have the opportunities,” says Jan Marson, who founded the foundation.
How to Get Involved
Food City formally launches August 1 with a community engagement campaign to gather input from area residents, industry professionals, organizations, and entrepreneurs through a public survey. That input will inform the project’s future efforts.
The organization will also open applications for a grant competition, with a range of grants (for $75,000, $50,000, $20,000, and $5,000) for packaged food brands owned by underrepresented founders (details here). They anticipate that the grant applications will also be an important source of information. “The community knows what they need,” says Darren Jackson, executive operations director of the Serving Our Communities Foundation. “We’re excited to listen to their stories and see their success stories.”
The winners of those grants will also participate in a hands-on accelerator program, which will provide mentorship, connections, training, resources, and access to state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities and equipment—all of which, the foundation notes, will expedite a process that can take months or years.
Eligibility and selection criteria, grant applications, the public survey, and a campaign calendar will go live at FoodCitySTL.org on August 1. Those excited to join the movement can subscribe to Food City’s email list to receive reminders and gain early access to community info sessions, gatherings, and other events with limited attendance.
The Backstory
With offices in St. Louis and Carson City, Nevada, Dan and Jan Marson built Nature’s Bakery from 2011 to 2020. Then, in 2020, they sold the business to the Kind subsidiary of the MARS company for a reported $400 million (as reported by The New York Times).
When that acquisition went through, the Marsons committed to supporting the communities that made them and founded the Serving Our Communities Foundation. Through the organization, they’re launching the Food City initiative, which is directed at the food industry, or food ecosystem, as they call it.
As Jackson says, “It’s hard to disagree with food!”
Hear our interview with Jan Marson on The BizSTL Podcast.
