Whole Foods Market Team Members Vote to Fund $552,350 for Food Access Programs in Colombia, Ghana, Rwanda and the United States

AUSTIN, Texas, August 7, 2025 /3BL/ - Whole Foods Market Foundation is excited to announce $552,350 in funding across six transformative projects in Colombia, Ghana, Rwanda and the United States through its Choice 4 Change program. Earlier this year, over 36,000 Team Members across Whole Foods Market participated in the Foundation's annual Choice 4 Change vote. Team Members used their voice to help the Foundation determine how to invest an additional $552,350 in food access programs. The selected partner organizations will help to increase the number of salad bars in schools, support smallholder farmers, and amplify the efforts of healthy nonprofit food retailers.

Learn more about each project below:

AMMAATI | Ghana

AMAATI is a Ghanaian social enterprise that works with farmers, mostly women, in producing and processing Fonio. AMAATI’s services provide a path out of poverty and inequality by providing skills training and income generation to women in the Northern region of Ghana. Their $52,770 Choice 4 Change funding will allow AMAATI to organize 100 Village Savings and Loan Associations with the smallholder women farmers it works with, who will meet regularly to save money and take loans from the seed capital provided through this project. 

Chef Ann Foundation | United States 

Chef Ann Foundation aims for every school in the United States to have a salad bar as part of their school food service program so that every child—from elementary school to high school—has daily access to fresh, healthy food. They will use their $294,300 Choice 4 Change award to give 134 salad bars to 58 schools from their waiting list.

Environomica | Colombia

Environomica is a nonprofit that provides agroforestry kits (which include farming tools, seedlings, and irrigation systems), technical assistance, result-based payments, and market access to indigenous communities living in the forests of Colombia’s Sierra Nevada mountains. Environomica will use their $52,600 Choice 4 Change funds to expand their core agroforestry program by engaging more families to plant 15,000 native fruit and timber trees, with the aim of enhancing their food security. 

Fresh Truck | United States (Boston, MA)

Fresh Truck has been a trusted source of fresh food in Boston since 2013, providing a reliable and dignified shopping experience for communities that lack access to affordable, quality produce. Their $50,000 Choice 4 Change award will be used to support Fresh Truck’s ongoing efforts to deliver fresh, quality, and culturally relevant produce weekly to 18+ communities with limited access and high rates of food insecurity and to meet increased demand at its current locations and expansion to two new locations. 

Kula Project | Rwanda

Kula Project is a non-profit that works with coffee communities in Rwanda. Kula runs a 12-month poverty graduation fellowship that joins regenerative agriculture support with entrepreneurial development and business coaching, empowering coffee farmers to increase their household income and move out of extreme poverty. Kula will use their $52,680 Choice 4 Change award to provide coffee farmers with in-depth agronomy training using a regenerative approach, hands-on business coaching to identify new business opportunities and supporting trials of organic pesticides.

Regional Environmental Council | United States (Worcester, MA)

Regional Environmental Council is a grassroots food justice organization that was founded in 1971 and has been dedicated to building healthy, sustainable and just communities in Worcester, MA for more than 50 years. They will use their $50,000 Choice 4 Change funds to support continued operations and expand efforts to increase food access through their Mobile Farmers Markets. Funding will also support increased outreach and access points for community members to use the Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) leading to an increase in overall community food security. 

Since 2005, Whole Foods Market Foundation, has invested over $200 million supporting over 16,000 partner organizations and schools in 81countries around the world.

For more information, visit wholefoodsmarketfoundation.org/funding-announcements. 

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ABOUT WHOLE FOODS MARKET FOUNDATION

Whole Foods Market Foundation works to nourish people and the planet by providing access to essential resources to improve nutrition and create opportunities for financial stability. The registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, based in Austin, Texas, encompasses the pillars of Whole Cities, Whole Kids and Whole Planet. For more information on the Foundation's work, visit wholefoodsmarketfoundation.org. For ongoing news and updates, follow Whole Foods Market Foundation on Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn.