Kellogg's Foundation for Local Food

What do you think of when you hear the name Kellogg? Cereal, perhaps? But not, I would hazard to guess, local, sustainable food systems. No, Kellogg's breakfast sugar-bombs have come to represent the United States' ubiquitous industrial, processed food.

Well, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, founded and funded by Will Keith Kellogg in the 1930s and still very close to the company, is making local food its thing lately. The Washington Post reports that the organization has announced $32.5 million in grants to support local food. The nine projects to receive funding include such efforts as filling school lunches with fresh vegetables, bringing mobile fruit stalls to the inner city and supporting Boston's urban farming movement.

With these projects, Kellogg Foundation's support of food and farming will top $80 million since the mid-1990s. The foundation is carrying on the founding vision of Mr. Kellogg, who wanted the organization to bolster the health of children, families and communities. Kellogg started his company as a purveyor of "better-for-you breakfast food," so the foundation's goal of supporting children's well-being was a logical extension of his corporate vision. Too bad the company itself isn't (see photo!).

Photo courtesy of dno1967, via Flickr