Foundation for New York’s Strongest Announces Microgrant Recipients

The Foundation for New York’s Strongest, the official nonprofit organization of the City of New York Department of Sanitation (DSNY), has announced the 2019 recipients of its Microgrant Program for food waste reduction: Brooklyn-based Fancy Nancy, a restaurant in Bedford-Stuyvesant, and Toast Ale USA, a craft beer brewing company based in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. This is the second year the foundation has granted support to New York City-based small businesses that have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to reducing food waste. 

Fancy Nancy plans to use the grant toward its food waste diversion program and a local restaurant guide to composting, while Toast Ale USA will use funds to expand its ability to accept donated surplus bread as part of its sustainable brewing process.

“We are thrilled to support these businesses that epitomize the mission of our organization and are looking forward to seeing their final results,” said Julie Raskin, executive director of the Foundation for New York’s Strongest, in a statement. “They are leading by example and showing how ‘outside-the-box’ thinking can be good for business and for the planet.”

New York City businesses generate more than 650,000 tons of food scraps each year, and the foundation’s Microgrant Program helps small companies launch a food waste reduction program or expand their current activities. Awardees are granted up to $2,000 to implement their sustainability goals, plus technical assistance from the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute. This microgrant initiative is funded by the foundation’s second successful Food Waste Fair, a combination expo-workshop-seminar-series that provides business owners with the resources and information they need to maximize how they use food and reduce the amount of organic waste they generate. By doing so, businesses also save money. 

“We hear that many businesses are interested in reducing the amount of food that goes to waste, but they may not know how to get started or where to turn,” said DSNY Commissioner Kathryn Garcia in a statement. “The Foundation, through its NYC Food Waste Fair and Microgrant Program, provides small businesses with the framework and contacts they need to either get food reduction efforts off the ground or improve the program they already have in place.”

“We want to fill hearts and stomachs, not landfills,” said Annie Sloan of Fancy Nancy in a statement. We are super grateful that the Foundation for New York’s Strongest is helping us reduce our ecological footprint.”

“Toast Ale is honored to receive this support from the Foundation to help us further our mission of fighting food waste through delicious craft beer," said Janet K. Viader, sales and operations at Toast Ale USA, in a statement.