Appendix B: Data from Listening Sessions and Surveys
Below is aggregated input from throughout the state gathered in our listening sessions and online surveys.
What’s Working In the Illinois Food System
There are many passionate people and influencers in the local food arena which bring excitement, collaboration and willingness to share existing resources and knowledge.
Illinois’ access to abundant water and soil health.
Volunteerism and greater food recovery efforts across the state.
Increased awareness about local foods.
Lowered barriers to local food.
Greater access to land in unconventional places (churches and community centers in Will County) and affordable land access with next generation farmers in eight counties.
An increasing number of food growers in Boone County.
Increasing transparency in the supply chain.
Collaboration among farmers.
More urban farms in low-income areas including North Lawndale, Austin, and other Chicago neighborhoods.
It is easier to find local food at retailers than before.
The funding community has been very supportive of local food projects.
There is an apparent narrative shift around the importance of local food for local consumption and the need for a more resilient food system.
Many conferences and networking opportunities drive vision and new ideas.
Four poultry processing facilities in Illinois is a positive that needs to increase.
Food is Medicine is a concept that is catching on.
The state is taking more initiative to advance local foods.
Cottage bakeries across the state and small-scale farms in the Peoria area are working well, as are mobile farmers markets, food hubs and cottage foods in Southern Illinois.
There are more co-ops in Illinois, greater urban farmer networks, strong food pantries and organizations that are helping farmers.
Strong network of organizations including Illinois Extension, Illinois Farmers Market Association, Village Farmstand, Farmers Markets in Macomb, Rushville and Mount Sterling, Experimental Station/Link Up Illinois, Jo Daviess Local Foods, Sola Gratia, Good Ogden, Windy City Harvest, Farm Family Foods in Benson, IL, Chicago Food Navigator, Dill Pickle Food Co-op, Neighbor Space, aggregators (The Common Market, Down at the Farms in Central, IL, The Farms of Illinois, LEAF in Carbondale), IL Farm Bureau and Ag In The Classroom, the CSA network, Seven Generations Ahead’s local food procurement trainings and Harvest of the Month and Great Apple Crunch, Illinois Farm to School Network, Chicago Moms tours, Hunters Feeding Illinois, Southern IL Food Pantry Network and Dekalb and Kane County food pantries, Kane County’s farmer program support, organizations that connect rural produce to Chicago markets, farmers markets, public-private partnerships, organizations supporting small farms/ businesses, and food hubs were all noted as assets.
Additional programs, policies, and funding mentioned included the Farmland Protection Program, the Illinois 1115 Demonstration Waiver to advance health equity, the Good Food Purchasing Policy, the state’s Local Food Infrastructure Grant, Public Act 12-1101 (the Illinois law exempting food service agreements from lowest responsible bidder requirement), grants providing mentorship to emerging farmers, landfill fee funding, libraries with seeds, government agency partnerships, grassroots networking and the transformation of vacant properties into gardens.
What’s Not Working; What are the Barriers In the Illinois Food System
General
Market is dominated by large producers and suppliers. Small farmers need more support.
More representation, support, and integration is needed for African American and Latino farmers.
Ninety-five percent of our food is imported.
Local food is competing against processed foods.
Lack of growers with capacity to sell to major food chains (Jewel, etc.).
Cost of local food from small and mid-sized farms is prohibitive.
People don’t have the time or the resources to buy and use local food. We need to make buying and using local food convenient and affordable.
Food system is run by a few at the top with land access, monopolies and consolidated industries. We need more decentralized grassroots power.
Farmers are aging and we’re losing them.
Farmers need consistent markets to grow for.
The food system operates in silos and needs more coordination and communication.
Climate change and access to water are ongoing challenges.
Illinois crops lack diversity.
Federal policies and funding cuts have now created uncertainty for farmers.
There is a mental disconnect between people and land and where food comes from.
Limited thinking that non-profit structures are the only way to move forward with local food.
Community-based organizations need more organizational capital.
Trust in the system is a barrier to local food production.
Institutional barriers from non-profits and getting NPs to actually care about local food is an issue.
A culture of individualism over community and disconnection from a holistic food culture are barriers.
Measurement, training, connections, and community building need to be increased.
Access to culturally relevant local food is limited.
Time and cooking restraints limit use of local, fresh food.
Hard to know and find people/organizations that can support farmers with distribution and sales.
Local food manufacturers need to be brought into the food system loop.
We are dependent on chemical food industrial practices.
Policies
School food service providers requiring GAP certification for local farms is cost prohibitivze and competes against land access and start-up capital needs.
GAP certification costs, recertification requirements and lack of auditors in IL create a barrier for small local farmers.
Federal guidelines for school food programs skew toward large-scale, pre-packaged items that have the quantity to be easily reimbursed, and the paperwork to get local scratch foods reimbursed is difficult.
School foods subsidized by the federal government do not support local farms.
Public policies related to what is taught in schools, what qualifies as essential foods, and who can and cannot process foods and food access are prohibitive for local farms.
Local farmers using regenerative practices are not getting adequate support.
Barriers exist for where growers can grow in the suburbs.
Zoning is a barrier for local food production in communities.
Inconsistent health department regulations and policies related to local foods.
Protections and regulations related to fresh water sources are lacking.
Farmers/Production
Illinois needs more growers producing food for local consumption.
Tools and spaces for growers to coordinate growing are lacking.
Affordable soil testing is a barrier.
Farmers need reasonably priced health insurance.
Farming is a long-term learning process — who is the next generation?
Markets/Marketing
Access to affordable local produce/proteins/grains to food pantries is limited.
Local farms face marketing and social media challenges.
We are not telling the story of the value of local food in different ways.
Many farmers in Illinois farmers markets are coming from Michigan and Wisconsin — need more Illinois growers.
Not enough markets for local growers; IL EATS needs support.
Education and procurement barriers exist for schools wanting to access local foods and farmers wanting to sell to schools.
Lack of marketing to prisons.
Lack of centralized information on market opportunities.
We need coherent messaging around analyzing what we eat.
There is a lack of access to local markets, and it is difficult for farmers to get products to market.
We need more marketing efforts to make buying local “a thing” (e.g., farmers markets, events, signage, social media, farm-to-table restaurants, etc.).
Not enough retailers setting aside shelf space for local food.
Retailers need support with marketing local foods and highlighting the benefits.
Lack of coordinated support for connecting farmers to markets in the Chicago area.
Food pantries have limited funds to buy local food.
Need more frequent, year-round access to local food in Boone County.
Not enough options to buy directly from local growers.
Farmers have limited knowledge of school and other regulations.
Local food distributors are lacking.
Food bank purchasing is limited to the “hard seven” (apples, cabbage, onions, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, oranges).
Recognition and promotion at the state level for local foods and farm-to-school programs is limited.
Proximity to large urban markets is a challenge for rural producers.
Infrastructure
Organic poultry processing is limited.
More infrastructure is needed for reducing food waste and distributing food to people in need.
Many schools and hospitals do not have real kitchens or adequate infrastructure to handle local, fresh food.
Systems and infrastructure (canning, quick-freeze, etc.) for value-added foods are inadequate.
There are inadequate opportunities for farmers to share resources and infrastructure.
Value-added production is hampered by lack of access to affordable kitchen space/usage.
Clean (non-chemical exposed) food processing and storage facilities are lacking and, in general, there is a need for more meat and vegetable processing facilities.
Land
Land access for local production and land costs are barriers to increasing local food production for local consumption.
Developers don’t want to give up vacant land and much vacant space is not usable.
Soil remediation is expensive.
Lack of local and state land protection for prime agriculture land in the midst of big land grabs.
Education
Our food and farm university extension program is not robust in comparison to other states.
Education about the value of local food, where it is grown and how it is produced, the true cost of food and how to cook local food is limited and is key to engaging local community residents in local food.
Education about the health and community benefits of local foods needs to increase.
Replicable models for small farm viability are needed.
People don’t know how to prepare and use local foods.
Economics/Cost
Farmers have said that the money is better in flowers and crafts than local food.
Accessing initial capital for farms is difficult.
Making food affordable and compensating farms adequately is a challenge — a big disparity exists between the real cost of growing quality food and what the market will bear.
The cost of transporting food is prohibitive.
Low compensation for local food production is hurting interest in farming.
Lack of flexibility with business models for farmers is a barrier.
Food is not being transported for people in need in efficient ways.
Starting a farm is difficult economically.
Farmers need more incentives to grow specialty crops.
Farmers need support with property tax exemptions.
Costs are high for on-farm infrastructure (wells, wash/pack, cold storage, etc.).
Funding/Resources
Funding is being cut for programs that support local farms and feeding people in need.
Running a farm profitably and full-time is a big challenge.
In light of federal funding cutbacks, more state funding is needed.
Funding source diversification is not adequate particularly in light of federal cutbacks.
Grant applications are difficult.
LFS and IL EATS funding cuts are hurtful to local farmers.
It is hard to get bank loans.
Farmers are uncertain about policies and funding opportunities.
There is a lack of a “one stop shop” for grants for farmers.
Access to capital for operations and expansion is limited.
Winter production is limited, and we need more funding/financing for greenhouses.
Limited funds to improve school meals.
Vocation/Labor
Educational pathways to food and farm jobs need to increase.
Exploitative labor practices by farms undercut those farmers providing ethical wages and make competing difficult.
Kitchen and farm workers need organizing power.
Immigration policies are reducing the farm labor force.
Pay is low for farm workers, benefits aren’t available, the work is hard on the body, full-time work is difficult to find, and the work is isolating.
Data
Measurements and success indicators are lacking.
Systems
Shelf space is controlled by large producers via rebates and paybacks.
Corporations are monopolizing food services.
Disinvestment in underserved communities/neighborhoods creates food apartheid.
Government/Regulations
Complex and inaccessible bureaucracy is prohibitive for local producers.
Regulatory hurdles make it difficult to accept state and federal funds.
SNAP application is very difficult, and SNAP is limited in what people can purchase.
Government regulations on various food products make it difficult for small farmers and producers.
NGOs
There is a lack of coordination, communication, and collaboration between organizations that have similar goals.
Groups work in silos, particularly in relation to urban and rural and North/South Side groups.
Nonprofits experience a lot of turnover.
Need a consortium of thought leaders to share winning protocols and models.
Engagement
Youth voices and after school programs are lacking.
Waste
Even though food recovery is happening, so much more food is being thrown away.
There exists a lot of waste at farmers markets.
Regional
Upper Will County needs more farmers markets.
Western and Central Illinois lack aggregators and wholesalers and vehicles for getting local food to markets.
There is a lack of access to local foods in rural areas.
In DeKalb County, many residents lack money to buy food.
Independent grocers are being taken over by Walmart delivery in counties, including in Alexander, Pulaski, Massac, Union and Johnson Counties.
WHAT ARE SOLUTIONS
General
Need more collaboration, trust, and information sharing across initiatives and other skill and knowledge sharing vehicles.
Adopt a competitive mindset (vs. scarcity mindset) and forge more connections between local leaders, nonprofits and farmers to build the local food industry.
Create more forums and vehicles for peer learning and connections.
Systemic change is needed to create a local food system.
We need metrics for defining what “regenerative” agriculture is.
Develop more jobs and contracts for BIPOC farmers.
Shift Illinois from commodity crops to specialty crops.
Address the issue of the difficulty for working class families to buy and cook local food (time, cost, knowledge, etc.).
Learn from indigenous communities and their food systems that may be less affected by federal funding cuts.
Develop a more robust comprehensive strategy for supporting local growers.
Focus more on “mile range” rather than state boundaries for local food sourcing.
Develop a plan for conventional farmers to use practices that build/protect soil health.
Develop and apply more working agriculture models for urban areas.
Make local food the easy choice.
Make local food central to community building and connections.
We need a comprehensive list of “who’s who” in the local food world in Illinois.
We need to model what this Illinois food system would like — how many acres, farmers, farmers markets, retailers, etc.
Education and Technical Assistance
Agriculture education should be required and make it relevant to the community (Pilot Light, etc.).
Develop an “Agri” high school on Chicago’s West Side. Bring home economics back to urban areas.
Centralized information system for growers. Create a “knowledge hub.”
Use “tool library” model for resource sharing and promote shared kitchens, food preservation equipment, etc.
Create more education opportunities related to what it means to eat locally and seasonally and engage youth.
Train more people on power dynamics and community organizing around local food.
More education on expiration dates placed on food.
Develop more incentives for farmers to donate usable, leftover food to people in need. Look at the mutual aid model.
Develop more vehicles for promoting “Food is Medicine.”
Educate the parents of children about local food and provide training on food production, preparation and preservation.
Support agencies that can provide technical assistance to farm and food businesses related to federal and state grants and in general provide more technical assistance linked to financing and funding.
More education is needed about the benefits of a local food system for all residents/stakeholders.
Engage universities in supporting local farms with alternative energy growing systems, greenhouses, growing indoors, etc.
Engage Illinois Extension more with providing courses for farmers on technology, markets, branding, pests, climate change, etc.
Provide more training for farmers on scaling up production.
Target elected officials for more education on local foods.
Develop more experiential and engaging learning opportunities for kindergarten students.
Provide more accessible education for people to grow their own food.
Target churches, community centers, bars and other community gathering places for basic education on nutrition, cooking, wellness, etc.
Create more pathways for existing and new farmers to grow food for local consumption and get support with land acquisition.
Provide more farm/food training and apprenticeships through community colleges.
In general, more training and business incubation is needed to develop small and mid-sized farms.
Farmer-to-farmer learning and collaboration is needed with farmer team visits and strategy sharing to promote successful businesses.
Engagement
Hold neighborhood scale events (art and music?) to bring various generations together to talk and learn about local food.
Pursue different strategies for engaging youth in local food.
Engage more stakeholders that don’t have any connection to local foods.
Create more ways for farmers to collaborate.
Producer-to-producer networking events are needed.
We need inclusive representation and local boards need more African American, Latino, and Asian representation.
Policy
Policies on the corporate level need to be created/adopted to allow for the reuse of edible food that would otherwise be landfilled.
Institutional policies and contracts should incorporate a minimum percentage of the use of local food.
Laws should be enacted to stop the removal of kitchens from schools/institutions.
Farm Bill subsidies need to be shifted, crop insurance incorporated, local food supported, and reduction of support for corn/soy.
Large food monopolies need to be broken up.
Address the issue of affordability of local food through schools.
Develop local farm/food subsidies (focus on specialty crop growers) that match neighboring states.
Address income inequality.
Engage governments more in the role of food recovery.
Connect Illinois economic policy with food policy.
Promote policies that use land strategically for agriculture.
Promote more stringent policies restricting food additives.
Remove “oppressive” policies like soda taxes and regulations that place restrictions on SNAP.
Protect and advance Good Food Purchasing Policy.
Tax big food businesses more and require more engagement in local communities.
Pass more policies that limit the negative health and environmental impacts that companies producing unhealthy foods are creating.
Change policy so WIC can emphasize local foods.
Develop incentives for diversifying crops.
Build in procurement flexibility for schools to allow for more local food purchases.
Adopt policies that provide cheaper water rates for agriculture use in the City of Chicago.
Reform National School Lunch Program focus from big agriculture producers to local growers.
Enforce laws on fair pricing (Robinson-Patman Act) to ensure local retailers remain viable.
Eliminate all taxes on farm land and other land used for agriculture.
Create budget line items for local agriculture support programs.
Incentivize distributors to buy from local growers.
Institute uniform wholesale pricing so farmers are compensated fairly.
Revisit and update 2009 Illinois Local and Organic Food and Farm Task Force Report.
Develop local advisory boards comprised of farmers/specialty growers within each county to drive local food production/consumption.
Establish clear regulations and interpretation across counties so growers can sell in multiple areas and have consistency with local health department regulations.
Policy is needed to protect freshwater (Lake Michigan) from private corporations, such as Nestle.
Labor
Farm and food workers need to be organized to get better wages, working conditions, etc.
Subsidize year-round health care for local farm/food workers.
H1V access to visas for immigrant workers.
Promote more hiring within local communities.
Establish fair pricing legislation similar to the Minnesota Farmers Union legislation.
Land
Develop a program to support converting vacant lots to small farms.
Government
Strengthen the IL Dept of Agriculture to have more independence and strength in the face of federal regulations that harm Illinois’ local food economy.
Term limits for elected officials.
Engage government officials in tours to local farms and get them invested in local foods.
Educate local, county, and state elected officials about local foods and their benefits.
Programs
Create a 6-week business incubator program linked to local food.
Develop a “city-owned” local foods grocery store.
Promote Illinois Eats and new grocery initiatives.
Include food production grants as part of the Local Food Infrastructure Grant program.
Get counties to bring back “Future Farmers of America” into schools.
Generate increased food aggregation, food tracking system usage, and food safety programs.
Consult with Illinois’ Soil and Water Conservation Districts regarding their organization and service model.
Expand FoodWorks Mobile Market to other areas/food deserts.
Explore adoption of the regenerative poultry model.
Farms/Production
We need to develop more small farms.
Economics/Cost
An economic analysis on the economic impact of local foods is needed.
Markets/Marketing
Leverage social media more for advocacy and information sharing.
Connect food hubs to local farmers markets.
Develop a stronger cadre of restaurants using local food (e.g., Thyme Craft Kitchen).
Place more effort on institutional purchasing (hospitals, schools, etc.) of local food and teach hospitals/schools how to connect to local farms.
Develop a comprehensive urban agriculture plan for the City of Chicago and, in general, provide more support for urban agriculture.
Develop a plan for more food aggregators to support linkages to institutional markets.
Develop more local food value-added products for people who don’t have time to cook.
Create food hubs/buying cooperatives linked directly to schools and businesses.
Reduce barriers small growers face to connect to CSA boxes.
Develop a comprehensive approach to improving school lunches.
Target community plazas/squares for local food promotion.
Increase use of mobile farm stands.
Aggregate information on where to buy different local foods.
Bolster support for urban agriculture incubators that are closing down.
Strengthen markets for local food and increase the robustness of food supply chains.
Create Illinois State Parks concessionaire through Illinois DNR focusing on local food.
Support local farm linkages to food pantries.
Work with dairy and meat processors to secure fair pricing that is three months or longer in consistency.
Create a comprehensive database on the community level that includes linkages to local farms, educational resources around local foods, and other related information.
The Good Acre is an example to review that provides consistent markets for farms.
Retail partnerships linked to local foods are needed along with meet the farmer events.
“Farm to School” for senior centers is needed.
Funding
Develop funding for soil testing and remediation.
Develop grant task force for local independent growers.
Source institutional, public, and private funding to support local foods.
Promote funding for communities outside of major metro areas.
Promote more funding in densely populated urban areas.
More support for city-run programs linked to free wood chips, soil remediation, etc.
Fund compost equipment for growers and organizations.
Apply principles of the USDA AMS regional food system partnership to create a state of Illinois funding model.
Develop a consistent, long-term funding model for the training of farmers.
Develop more infrastructure funding.
Reinstitute IL-EATS.
Simplify grant funding processes.
Provide capital support and training for farmers to grow and build their businesses.
Provide support to farmers in relation to USDA funding programs and grant proposal development.
Restore RSFI funding and support growers with grant proposal development.
Funding to support the connection between farms and food pantries is needed.
Funding for shared kitchens, farm stores, etc. is needed.
DeKalb, McLean, Livingston, and Woodford counties could use refrigerated trucks and other storage infrastructure.
Local Food Production
Increase vertical and indoor farming to work around environmental issues.
Infrastructure
Develop more processing facilities.
Develop local food hubs in strategic, high-need areas and a broader plan for a food hub in every region.
Learn from Maine’s version of local food infrastructure (on the farm and beyond) and build into Illinois’ state budget.
Infrastructure and vehicles are needed in DeKalb County.
Non-Governmental Organizations
Reduce duplicative work and funding competition.
Build a more collaborative movement model that keeps everyone working together without having to agree on everything.
A regular local food coalition needs to be developed and other ways to connect multi-sector organizations and other CBOs.