7. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We are grateful to the Illinois Department of Human Services and Associate Director Stephanie Bess for their vision and support of the work of developing an Illinois food system plan.

We are grateful to the hundreds of food system stakeholders in Illinois who shared their insights, passion, and ideas in this first phase of the Roadmap. It is only because of you and with you that this work is — and will be — possible. We look forward to continued collaboration.

We are grateful to volunteers Makhaila Anderson, Ellen Kamps, Ava Krause, and Senna Schultz, who so generously gave of their time to interpret and transcribe hundreds of pages of hand-written responses from workshop participants regarding the current status of Illinois’ food system and their proposed solutions.

“[We need] a way that all areas of the food system can regularly connect. Whether that is quarterly meetings or an online repository where everyone can stay up to date with funding sources, successful projects, and ways to collaborate.”

—A participant