Good Food for All

Weekly Digest: President Obama Signs Child Nutrition Re-Authorization Act

This week's digest is cross-posted at ChicagoReGen.com. 

• This week, President Obama signed the Child Nutrition Re-Authorization Act into law.  The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 will authorize funding for child nutrition programs and aims to increase access to healthy food for low-income children nationwide.   

• Increasing numbers of private investors are looking for ways to support local food systems. 

• Chicago Garden highlights a number of local food products for the holiday season that support social enterprise ventures.  

• Door to Door Organics is partnering with Goodness Greeness to provide an organic and local food products delivery service in Chicago.  

• Chicago Food Policy Advisory Council and Advocates for Urban Agriculture are actively focusing on Chicago's zoning ordinance proposals for urban agriculture.  Click here to view the ordinance. 

 

Weekly Digest: Healthy Changes in Humboldt Park, Child Nutrition Reauthorization, and Zoning for Urban Ag

This week's digest is cross-posted at ChicagoREgen.com.

• Sinai Urban Health Institute received national press on its comprehensive public health assessment of eight Chicago communities and the changes that have occurred since the study was published in 2006.  Block by Block is a campaign to support Humboldt Park residents in making healthy lifestyle changes.

• There could be movement in Congress on the 2010 Child Nutrition Reauthorization (CNR). View resources here.

• The Reinvestment Fund (TRF) has a new data mapping tool of low-access areas to supermarkets in Chicago.

• The Local Beet examines the Department of Zoning and Land Use Planning's latest efforts to update zoning classifications for urban agriculture.

• Large retail chains, including Walmart, CVS and Walgreens, are stocking their stores with more groceries in urban areas.

• Illinois State University is diverting thousands of pounds of food waste from landfills this year.

• Jim Javenkoski and Sunday Dinner will present two sold-out Locavore Dinners on November 15 and 16. The first event features special guests Beth and Brent Eccles of Green Acres Farm (North Judson, IN). Harry and Gwen Carr of Mint Creek Farm (Stelle, IL) are the featured guests for the second event.

 

Weekly Digest: CSU's Aquaponics Program and 2010 State of the Plate on Sustainable Meat

This week's digest is cross-posted at ChicagoREgen.com.

• The Green Chicago Restaurant Co-op is sponsoring a one-day seminar on sustainable meat on Nov. 17.  Register today for the 2010 State of the Plate at Harold Washington Library.

• Chicago State University’s aquaponics facility, a research and resource program on campus, uses tilapia to help grow fruits and vegetables.

• Growing Power is offering a Commercial Urban Agriculture Training Program in 2011. Click here to learn more and to download an application.

• Chicago Tribune examines the regulations that bar CPS school garden produce from entering the lunchroom. An increasing number of studies show that students engaged in school gardens score higher on standardized tests.

 

Daily Digest: GoTo2040 Plan for Local Food Systems, Living on Food Stamps and Food Trucks in Chicago

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that 1 in 7 Americans live in poverty, the highest rate since the 1960s.  Feeding Illinois has organized the SNAP Hunger Challenge to educate the public on the difficulties of living on food stamps. 

Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) will release its GoTo2040 plan on Oct. 13.  The most up-to-date version of the local food systems chapter is now available online. 

Three new food trucks can now be found on the streets of Chicago.  Happy Bodega and Simple Sandwich both focus on serving fresh and local fare. 

The Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children was awarded $5.8 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services towards obesity prevention initiatives. 

Nominate a "Community Gardener of the Year" for GreenNet's 2010 Annual Award Ceremony and Potluck Dinner on Nov. 10. Nominations are due by Oct. 22. 

A farm camp in New York, Flying Pigs Farm, is geared towards educating food professionals about local cuisine.

Daily Digest: National Farmers Market Week, FRESH screenings and Backyard chickens

In honor of National Farmers Market Week, read this post on the importance of partnerships in administering the Double Value Coupon Program.

FRESH the movie will be showing at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago until Aug. 5. 

Download the full FamilyFarmed.org report "Ready to Grow: A plan for increasing Illinois fruit and vegetable production." The report details current obstacles and recommendations for meeting the increasing wholesale demand for local foods. 

Whole Foods opened its first on-site community garden in Virginia, which could serve as a potential model for other stores.    

A community-supported agriculture (CSA) drop-off site was almost shut down by the City of Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection. 

Irv & Shelly's Fresh Picks' current newsletter features an interview with Tiny Greens Organic Farm. 

Backyard chicken enthusiast groups continue to grow in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. 

The City of Chicago approved a 3rd Wal-Mart store, in Chicago's Chatham neighborhood. 

The Community Food Security Coalition 14th Annual Conference will take place Oct. 16-19, 2010, in New Orleans, LA. Scholarships are available and early registration deadline is Aug. 13. 

Attention farmers market managers in Illinois: Illinois Department of Agriculture and the National Agricultural Statistics Service are requesting information on growers and vendors represented at this year's farmers markets.  Download the full letter here.

Daily Digest: Farm to Restaurant in Central Illinois and a Chicago Urban Agriculture Resource Wiki

Advocates for Urban Agriculture launched a Resource Wiki, which includes a Chicago Urban Agriculture Directory.   Add your project today! 

Chicago Public Schools and other Illinois school districts are changing the contents of their vending machines to provide healthier options for students. 

The deadline for registering farmers markets in the USDA 2010 Farmers Market Directory is June 4, 2010. 

The Illinois Farm Service Agency planted a "People's Garden" in Springfield, which will benefit the Central Illinois Food Bank. 

In central Illinois, young chefs are building a world-class farm to restaurant model at Epiphany Farms.  

Belleville Farmers Market received a $25,000 grant from Pepsi for its healthy eating educational initiative, Taste Buds.  Read the article or watch the video here. 

Daily Digest: CPS Nutrition Policies, Garden Therapy, and Asian Carp

No pop tarts, fewer French fries, and more veggie burgers, will reflect some of the changes in the revised nutritional standards for CPS. 

A Chicago alderman proposes possible solutions to the influx of Asian carp: catch them and feed them to those in need.  Big River Fish, based in Pearl, IL, will export 30 million lbs of carp to China, to be served in high-end restaurants.  

A Milwaukee federal judge has denied Dean Foods' request to dismiss an antitrust lawsuit. 

A Chicago Tribune editorial asks CPS schools to clarify school lunchroom policies on food waste.  

An increased number of health-care facilities are incorporating "garden therapy" treatment programs for patients and clients. 

Seeding Chicago, a new blog on urban agriculture in Chicago, shares recent news that Pete's grocery store may be coming to Chicago's Near West Side.  

Christine Vilsack, wife of Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, will serve as the national honorary co-chair of Healthy School Campaign's Cooking Up Change competition.

Logan Square Kitchen, a LEED gold-certified contract kitchen,  is hosting a Spring Pastry Market this Saturday, April 10.  

Daily Digest: Policy Updates, Reducing Childhood Obesity, and New Local Food Jobs

Healthy Schools Campaign details the potential benefits of The Children's Fruit and Vegetable Act of 2009. 

At the United Conference of Mayors, First Lady Michelle Obama spoke about her upcoming campaign to stop the rise of childhood obesity.  

Civil Eats provides a comprehensive resource list for starting school gardens, highlighting an elementary school in Gages Lake, IL. 

Stay connected to food policy, urban agriculture, backyard chickens, and/or community gardens in the Chicago area by subscribing via email for updates (click on each of the links). 

New job postings and opportunities in sustainable food and urban farming are available for download at Good Food for All. 

Daily Digest: Sustainable Food Jobs, Farm to College, and 61st St Community Garden

A new website, Sustainable Food Jobs, aggregates job postings from across the country. 

Urban farmers are having difficulty with Kansas City's zoning regulations. 

More colleges surrounding the Great Lakes are sourcing local food, such as Western Michigan University Dining Services.  

Wilmington College in Ohio provided twenty garden plots to the local community to grow their own food this past year, in an area deeply affected by the economic recession.  

The 61st Street Community Garden is at risk of being demolished in Chicago's Woodlawn neighborhood.  The Invisible Institute filmed a documentary on the importance of community garden projects. 

Emily Art and Gordon Douglas from Invisible Institute on Vimeo.