GRACE Communications Foundation
GRACE Communications Foundation develops innovative strategies to increase public awareness of the critical environmental and public health issues created by our current food, water and energy systems, and to promote a more sustainable future. By building partnerships and mobilizing philanthropic resources, we promote consumer actions and public policies that:
GRACE’s food program, Sustainable Table®, works to create a safe, healthy, fair food system by educating people about the benefits of sustainable agriculture and providing tools and resources to empower them to make better food choices.
Sustainable Table offers comprehensive information about food and farming, ranging from introductory to in-depth; practical tips for buying and cooking with sustainable foods; handouts, factsheets and other resources for teachers; and a range of actions we can all take to promote the transition to a sustainable food future. Our projects include: The Meatrix® – an award-winning series of animated movies depicting the ills of industrial livestock production, and Eat Well Guide® – a curated online directory of 25,000+ farms, stores, restaurants, CSAs and other sources of sustainably produced foods.
GRACE's Water Program promotes clean water, sustainable water use and a greater understanding of how our actions affect our water resources. We focus largely on the tremendous amount of “hidden water” involved in producing the goods and services we use every day. Our innovative Water Footprint Calculator allows users to estimate their household water footprint and learn how to save water. We also offer a child-friendly animated video and accompanying materials called “Aqua: Conserve Water”.
Our program’s resources include topic pages and water-saving tips that help people make water conservation part of daily life. We explain how the protection and sustainable use of our water resources benefits everyone – whether at an individual, community or national level – and how such measures can offer positive solutions, not just for the water system, but for our food and energy systems as well.
GRACE's Energy Program promotes clean energy, focusing on renewable energy, distributed generation and energy efficiency. We also shed light on the environmental effects of conventional power generation and highlight the interdependencies among food, water and energy systems through topics like hydrofracking, biofuels and power plant water use.
The program produces in-depth reports and online resources to raise awareness of emerging issues to help advocates, policymakers and the general public stay informed of the rapidly changing world of energy production and efficiency. We illustrate how the transition to a clean energy future will benefit not only the sustainability and security of our energy system, but our food and water systems as well.
We highlight the connections among food, water and energy, promoting a sustainable future through our projects including:
The connection between the food we eat and our health is undeniable. Although the relationship is complicated, you can be sure of one thing: choosing sustainable food is a no brainer when it comes to achieving optimal health.
If you’re as much of a water lover as we are and you’re job hunting, water protection should be at the top of your list. Our need for water and wastewater management is only going to grow. Whether you’re a scientist, an advocate, a writer or an accountant, you’ll be needed!
We’ve all had one: that sustainable aha! moment when we realize we can help change the planet for the better. From a Perdue chicken farmer opening his barn doors on inhumane treatment to realizing how much dirty water the oil and gas industry make, here’s plenty of aha! moments waiting to happen.
"Simply put, sustainability is important for obvious reasons. We need to sustain the planet and the land we grow our food on so that we can survive." According to Chef Deborah Scarborough, owner of Black Cat Bistro, it’s just common sense to use local ingredients - not only it is more sustainable, "the better the ingredients, the better the dish will turn out."