Community Food Advocates Awarded $100,000 from the Hunger to Health Collaboratory and Newman's Own Foundation

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Real Food Media
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Community Food Advocates Awarded $100,000 from the Hunger to Health Collaboratory and Newman’s Own Foundation

New York, NY – October 22, 2025 – Community Food Advocates (CFA) has been selected as a winner of the 2025 Prizes for Innovation, receiving a $100,000 award from the Hunger to Health Collaboratory (H2HC) and Newman’s Own Foundation. The award recognizes CFA’s innovative and systemic approach to advancing youth health equity through nutrition education and school food policy work.

Nearly one in five New York City children—disproportionately Black and Latinx—experience hunger, which has lifelong impacts on their physical health, mental wellness, and academic achievement. Community Food Advocates works to ensure that all New Yorkers have access to healthy, affordable, culturally affirming food within a sustainable, equity-centered food system advanced by high-impact public policy.

CFA’s goal is to build the most innovative school meals program in New York City by developing and scaling highly effective nutrition collaboratives in every school.

“The United States is facing profound food and nutrition challenges that disproportionately affect young people and communities of color, yet far too little funding and resources go toward addressing these critical challenges,” said Nicolene Hengen, Executive Director of the Hunger to Health Collaboratory. “The Prizes for Innovation are designed to identify, support, and uplift changemakers and innovative food and nutrition work that create long-term solutions to improving health equity for youth.”

This year’s prizes are presented in collaboration with Newman’s Own Foundation, a private grantmaking foundation whose mission is to nourish and transform the lives of children who face adversity.

“We’re delighted to support this year’s Prizes for Innovation with the Hunger to Health Collaboratory,” said Alex Amouyel, President and CEO of Newman’s Own Foundation. “The six prize recipients have the power to transform our food system for kids, creating a healthier, more equitable future.”

In addition to the funding award, Community Food Advocates will be invited to attend the H2HC Fall Summit in Boston, Massachusetts, on November 6, 2025, alongside fellow prize winners and leaders from across sectors working to create innovative solutions, systemic change, and inclusive outcomes that advance food justice for children.

About Community Food Advocates

Community Food Advocates’ (CFA) mission is to utilize high-impact public policy that ensures all New Yorkers have access to healthy, affordable, culturally affirming food within a sustainable and equity-centered food system. CFA is committed to ensuring that all students have access to free school meals. Universal free school meals directly counteract the poverty stigma of participating in school meals and result in more children eating—leading to stronger health, wellbeing, and educational outcomes. In addition to universal free school meals, CFA advocates for policies, initiatives, and innovations that drive toward a vision of making school food the most enjoyable, welcoming, and student-centered experience possible.

About the Hunger to Health Collaboratory

The Hunger to Health Collaboratory (H2HC) is an innovative national model that convenes cross-sector thought leaders to explore systemic solutions to food and nutrition challenges with a focus on equity and the social drivers of health. H2HC created its Prizes for Innovation in 2023 and has awarded $400,000 since the program’s launch.

About Newman’s Own Foundation

Newman’s Own Foundation is a private grantmaking foundation whose mission is to nourish and transform the lives of children who face adversity. The Foundation continues Paul Newman’s commitment to use all the money it receives—100% of the profits and royalties from the sale of Newman’s Own products—in service of its mission. Through the efforts of Paul Newman and Newman’s Own, over $600 million has been given to social impact organizations since 1982.