The Rockefeller Foundation’s 2025–2026 Grant Opportunities: Advancing Nutrition & Health Equity Across America

The Strategic Rise of Nutrition-Based Health Funding

The Rockefeller Foundation has elevated its focus on integrating nutrition interventions into health systems. By emphasising programs like produce prescriptions, medically tailored meals and food-as-medicine models, the Foundation is enabling nonprofits and health organisations to shift upstream—toward prevention rather than just treatment.

Through its “Food is Medicine” initiative and other health-system innovation efforts, the Rockefeller Foundation offers one of the most significant philanthropic opportunities in U.S. community health today.

Funding Priorities & Themes

The Foundation’s grantmaking around health and nutrition is anchored in the following themes:

• Nutrition-Integrated Care : Supporting programs that embed healthy food and nutritive interventions into healthcare delivery and clinical practice.
• Health Systems Innovation : Strengthening the bridge between food access, health equity and systemic change in underserved communities.
• Community Health Equity : Targeting populations disproportionately affected by diet-related disease—veterans, rural communities, people of colour—and supporting scalable solutions.

Who Can Apply

Eligible applicants typically include:

• Nonprofit organisations, health systems, or community-based programmes in the U.S. that implement food-and-nutrition-linked health interventions.
• Research institutions and academic groups studying food-as-medicine models or nutrition-health linkages.
• Collaborative efforts between local food systems (farmers, producers), public health organisations and healthcare providers.

Funding Scale & Duration

• In January 2024, the Rockefeller Foundation announced an $80 million increase over five years for its U.S. “Food is Medicine” portfolio—bringing total commitment to more than $100 million. ( The Rockefeller Foundation )
• In February 2024, a specific funding tranche of $3.5 million was awarded for U.S. programmes to link small/mid-scale farmers with food-as-medicine interventions across several states. ( The Rockefeller Foundation )
• Grants are designed for multi-year projects, enabling evaluation, scaling and systemic change rather than short-term pilots.

Real-World Funding Initiatives

February 13, 2024 – U.S. Food is Medicine Funding Round

The Rockefeller Foundation announced $3.5 million in grants to scale and strengthen food-as-medicine interventions in the U.S., working with organisations such as 4P Foods, Adelante Mujeres, and Community Servings. ( The Rockefeller Foundation )

• Key inputs by applicants : Integration between local food producers and health programmes; targeted communities with high diet-related disease burden; collaboration with healthcare systems; measurable outcomes for chronic disease management.

March 11, 2025 – Veterans Food is Medicine Pilot Expansion

The Foundation announced new pilot programmes in Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Texas and Utah to bring food-as-medicine solutions to more than 2,000 U.S. veterans, partnering with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Instacart, Syracuse University and others. ( The Rockefeller Foundation )

• Inputs required : Partnerships with veteran-serving institutions, nutrition access infrastructure (produce prescriptions/medically tailored meals), data tracking for veteran health outcomes and food insecurity.

Jan 31, 2024 – Major Commitment to Food is Medicine (Over Five Years)

The Foundation announced a new investment to raise its U.S. “Food is Medicine” funding to more than $100 million since 2019, with a large portion directed to research and infrastructure for scaling interventions. ( The Rockefeller Foundation )

• Inputs emphasised : Evidence generation (research on outcomes/cost savings), policy alignment (Medicaid & health system integration), local food systems involvement.

How to Apply & Upcoming Opportunities

Step 1 – Review Active Opportunities

Visit the Rockefeller Foundation “Our Grants” page to browse current and past grants by focus area: Food → Health → Innovation. ( The Rockefeller Foundation)

Step 2 – Align Your Initiative

Design proposals that clearly integrate nutrition into health outcomes—show how your programme connects food access, clinical care, community health and equity.

Step 3 – Demonstrate Scalable Impact

Ensure your proposal includes baseline data, measurable health outcomes (e.g., reduced HbA1c, fewer hospitalisations), food access metrics, partner ecosystem and long-term sustainability.

Step 4 – Prepare Required Documentation

The Foundation provides a Toolkit for Prospective & Active Grantees outlining expectations, timelines and reporting obligations. ( The Rockefeller Foundation)

Upcoming Windows

• The Foundation’s call for applications for the 2026 residencies at its Bellagio Center opened March 2025 with deadline March 24, 2025. ( The Rockefeller Foundation )
• Watch for future open calls in the Food is Medicine and Health Systems Innovation themes through 2025–2026; sign up for updates via the Foundation’s website.

Proposal Readiness Checklist

Before submitting, ensure your organisation has:

• A clear strategy linking food access, health outcomes and underserved populations.
• Evidence of partnerships bridging food system, public health, healthcare providers and community organisations.
• The capacity to track program metrics and report on outcomes over multiple years.
• A sustainability plan and strategy for scaling beyond initial funding.
• The storytelling component: use both data and human stories (patients, participants) to illustrate impact.

How Pillar by SocialRoots.ai Enhances Your Application

Large-scale funders like the Rockefeller Foundation expect robust data and scalable impact. With Pillar by SocialRoots.ai, your organization can:

• Consolidate outcome data (health, nutrition, social determinants) across programs and partners.
• Automate progress reports, dashboards and funder-ready visuals.
• Track and present longitudinal outcomes such as “Reduced hospital readmissions by X%” or “Increased produce redemption by Y% in under-served ZIP codes.”
• Provide compelling impact narratives combined with verified metrics—key for funders emphasizing systems change.

Conclusion:

The Rockefeller Foundation’s focus on nutrition-driven health change represents a major shift in philanthropy—a recognition that to improve population health, we must treat food as medicine.

For nonprofits working at the intersection of health, food systems and equity, this funding window is open and ripe for focused, well-designed proposals. By combining a strong programmed model with data-rich proof and the right partnership ecosystem—supported by tools like Pillar by SocialRoots.ai—your organisation can position itself to win meaningful funding and drive measurable change.