Danone Institute North America announces a request for proposals for the fourth offering of its Danone Institute North America Sustainable Food Systems Initiative. Danone Institute North America (DINA) is a nonprofit innovation center managed by Danone North America, a subsidiary of the global food and beverage company Danone, which has a mission to bring health through food to as many people as possible. As a reflection of this, the goal of the DINA Sustainable Food Systems Initiative is to foster transdisciplinary, community-based work to impact human nutritional health.
The DINA Sustainable Food Systems Initiative is a competitive program that will select and fund up to five transdisciplinary teams in 2025 to design, implement and evaluate actionable community-based projects that contribute to the nutritional health of adult populations and support publication and communication about their impact.
Funding from this initiative can be used for various types of projects and can include pilot studies, feasibility testing, and needs assessments. (Please see Grant Recipients tab for examples of past projects that align with the current initiative and focus.) Each selected team will receive a USD 50,000 DINA Sustainable Food Systems Initiative grant to implement its project and amplify its message to a broader audience over a two-year period. Teams may use this grant mechanism to supplement current funding from other sources, but new project aims must be developed for the DINA Sustainable Food Systems Initiative funding.
As part of the initiative, selected teams must participate in a five-day in-person program June 22-25, 2025, in Boulder, CO. The objectives of this program are to provide expertise and support for enhancing projects through project-specific communication and evaluation assistance, and to facilitate the development of a community among award recipients to share ideas, offer support, and create a grassroots movement toward community-based approaches that improve human health and nutrition. Programming will include content on contemporary approaches to human health and nutrition, such as food as medicine; a communications training from experts from the Danone company; presentations and panels of community stakeholders involved in health promotion efforts around nutrition; approaches to team dynamics; and panels and group discussions among the selected teams. The Danone Institute North America will cover the costs of this in-person programming, including transportation, meals and lodging for up to four team members.
The in-person program will be followed approximately three weeks later by a virtual team presentation to a panel of experts of a communications plan to support their project. The team that presents the strongest communication plan as determined by the panel will be awarded an additional USD 10,000 prize to apply toward expanded communications.
The awards will cover a 24-month period for implementing and evaluating projects. Throughout this period, the teams will receive assistance by Danone Institute North America Board members to facilitate implementation, evaluation, and communication of their projects. Opportunities to stay connected with other award recipients will also be provided. The outcomes of funded projects will be communicated to the Danone Institute North America networks and broader groups of external stakeholders.
To be eligible for this initiative, each team must meet the following requirements:
Proposals are due Friday, February 14, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. EST. Proposals must include the following components; proposals lacking one or more of these elements will not be considered: