Organizations to watch in 2026

Danielle Nierenberg

Danielle Nierenberg 

There’s no doubt that 2025 has been a year of immense uncertainty, from the abrupt dismantling of vast international aid programs to cuts in nutrition assistance in the United States and climate-smart agriculture programs to some global leaders continuing to take baby steps instead of bold action.

These raise difficult questions not only about the day-to-day realities of food security but also, more broadly, about the world’s willingness and ability to respond to increasingly complex climate and equity challenges.

However, we already know how to address these questions! We know how food and agriculture systems can be solutions to our most pressing social and environmental concerns. So we don’t need to ask what to do—we need to ask who will lead the way toward that more regenerative, sustainable future. Rather than waiting around for those in power to get the message, let’s uplift, celebrate, and rally behind the organizations that are already building the solutions we need to see!

As we head into 2026, these 126 organizations—and the countless farmers, chefs, fishers, advocates, scientists, food workers, immigrants, gardeners, storytellers, blue food systems innovators, business leaders, community elders and more who power them—are leading the way. 

To continue highlighting these success stories and pushing the food system forward, we need you, too! Our work is only possible thanks to our global community of members, so please consider joining Food Tank today. (As a special thank-you, alongside the other membership benefits you can explore at FoodTank.com/join, we'll also send you a beautiful and sustainable Food Tank-branded cutting board!)

On the ground all across the globe, Food Tank and our partners are seeing unprecedented strength in building opportunity for women and young farmers to become leaders in their communities, forging partnerships to fund and scale proven solutions, prioritizing collaborative knowledge-sharing across silos, and cultivating locally rooted models to nourish the next generation.

In alphabetical order, here’s the full list of organizations to watch in 2026:

A–F: African Population & Health Research Centre, Kenya; Agroecology Fund, International; AKADEMIYA2063, Africa; Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, Africa; American Farmland Trust, United States; Annie’s Project, U.S.; Aragón Agri-Food Institute, Europe; Arrell Food Institute, Canada; Asian Farmers Association for Sustainable Rural Development, Asia; Australian Conservation Foundation, Australia; Agroecology & Sovereignty Alliance, Australia; Better Food Future, International; Black Feminist Project, U.S.; Broadway Green Alliance, U.S.; Buğday Association, Turkey; C40 Food Systems, International; CARE International, International and CARE USA, U.S.; CGIAR, International; CORAF, West and Central Africa; Charlie Cart Project, U.S.; City Harvest, U.S.; Climate Group, International; Coalition of Immokalee Workers, U.S.; Conflict Cuisine Project, International; Community Kitchen, U.S.; Crop Trust, International; Culinary Institute of America, U.S.; Cultivemos Network, U.S.; Dion’s Chicago Dream, U.S.; Edible Schoolyard Project, U.S.; EAT, International; EiT Food, Europe; European Alliance for Regenerative Agriculture, Europe; FAIRR Initiative, International; Farm Labor Organizing Committee, AFL-CIO, U.S.; Feeding Change, U.S.; First Nations Development Institute, U.S.; Food is Medicine Institute, U.S.; Food Recovery Network, U.S.; Food Research & Action Center, U.S.; Food Security Leadership Council, International; Food Systems for the Future, International; FreshRx Oklahoma, U.S.; Friends of the Earth, International; Full Plates Full Potential, U.S.

G–O: Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, International; Global Alliance for Latinos in Agriculture, International; Global Alliance for the Future of Food, International; Global Food Institute at GW, U.S.; Glynwood Center for Regional Food and Farming, U.S.; Gönül Mutfağı, Turkey; GrowNYC, U.S.; Guyra Paraguay, Paraguay; Green Bronx Machine, U.S.; Good Food Fund, China; Harlem Grown, U.S.; Helen’s Daughters, Caribbean; High Atlas Foundation, Morocco; IndigeHub, U.S.; Instituto Regenera, Brazil; Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, Americas; International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, Africa; International Fund for Agricultural Development, International; International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems, International; International Potato Center, International; James Beard Foundation, U.S.; John Hopkins University Center for Health Security and Center for a Livable Future, U.S.; Kiss the Ground, U.S.; La Via Campesina, International; Local2030 Islands Network, International; McKnight Foundation, U.S.; Milan Urban Food Policy Pact, International; Naandi Foundation, India; National Farm to School Network, U.S.; National Farm Worker Ministry, U.S.; National Farmers Union, U.S.; National Young Farmers Coalition, U.S.; Natural Resources Defense Council, International; New York Botanical Garden, U.S.; Niman Ranch Next Generation Foundation, U.S.; North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NĀTIFS), North America; NOW Partners Foundation, International; ONE Campaign, International; One Fair Wage, U.S.; OzHarvest, Australia.

P–Z: Participatory Ecological Land Use Management, East, Central, and Southern Africa; Physicians Association for Nutrition, International; Practical Farmers of Iowa, U.S.; Project Dandelion, International; Project Drawdown, U.S.; ProVeg International, International; Rainforest Alliance, International; ReFED, U.S.; Regen Places Network, Australia; Regen10, International; Resilient Cities Network, International; Rodale Institute, U.S.; Rooted East, U.S.; Rythu Sadhikara Samstha, India; Salesian Sisters’ Valponasca Learning Farm, Zambia; Scaling Up Nutrition Movement, International; SDG2 Advocacy Hub, International; Self Employed Women’s Association, India; Senegalese Association for the Promotion of Development at the Base (Asprodeb), Africa; Sicangu Food Sovereignty Initiative, U.S.; Slow Food International, International and Slow Food USA, U.S.; Solid’Africa, Rwanda; Soul Fire Farm, U.S.; Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation, U.S.; Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, U.S.; Sustainable Food Trust, United Kingdom; Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems at Arizona State University, U.S.; Terepeza Development Association, Ethiopia; The Common Market, U.S.; The Land Institute, International; The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, International; The Rockefeller Foundation, U.S.; UJAMAA Cooperative Farming Alliance, U.S.; United Nations System, International; Urban Growers Collective, U.S.; Wellness in the Schools, U.S.; Wholesome Wave, U.S.; Women Advancing Nutrition Dietetics and Agriculture (WANDA), U.S.; World Central Kitchen, International; World Resources Institute, International; and World Wildlife Fund (WWF), International.

Our annual guide grows every year, which is a testament to how wide-reaching the global food movement truly is. So I hope you’ll take time to read through not just the organization titles here but our descriptions of their hard work on FoodTank.com: When people ask me why I’m optimistic about the future of food and motivated to keep fighting for food system transformation, I show them this list!

Please CLICK HERE to spend some time this week finding organizations that spark our passions and can drive action in our home communities.

I wish you all a happy, healthy, equitable, and delicious New Year!

(Danielle Nierenberg is the President of Food Tank and can be reached at danielle@foodtank.com)