Good Food for All

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.

 

Daily Digest: Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, 2010 CSA Guide and Composting Symposium

The Local Beet has a helpful 2010 CSA Guide (Community Supported Agriculture) available online (and also detailed by neighborhood).  Click here to find out which one is right for you. 

The next National Good Food Network webinar will focus on third-party certification and value chain partnerships.  Register here for the Feb. 18th webinar. 

Illinois Stewardship Alliance hosted a successful composting symposium at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. 

Chef Jamie Oliver is the 2010 TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) winner for his campaign to end childhood obesity.  Watch his acceptance speech, and visit his TED page to learn more. 

Daily Digest: Composting, Community Food Enterprises, and Value Chain Partnerships

OrganicNation.TV gives a visual tour of composting at Growing Power's 2.5 acre farm in Milwaukee.  

Liberty Prairie Conservancy is leading a visioning process to protect 1,000 acres each year in Lake County for the next 20 years.  

Economist Michael Shuman explains how Community Food Enterprises (CFEs) can help revive local economies. 

The CFE website has a series of individual case studies on food business incubation and value-added food production, including The Intervale Center and Organic Valley (CROPP). 

Value Chain Partnerships, an Iowa-based network of food and agriculture working groups, has launched a new website. 

NPR hosted a discussion with Will Allen on ethical consumerism during the holiday season. 

Daily Digest: Food Waste, IOM Guidelines for School Lunch, and Farm Business Development Center

The National Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommends incorporating more whole grains, less salt, and cutting out saturated and trans fat in school lunches.  

The E.P.A. is considering a new strategy towards recycling, especially with food waste, which totals 13% of waste nationally.  If composted, food waste can break down and be utilized as an organic fertilizer, returning nutrients to depleted soils.  

Prairie Crossing has a new website for its Farm Business Development Center. 

Western Illinois University sponsored a panel and discussion on Food, Inc. 

Starting this week, San Francisco is mandating all residents to compost their food waste. 

The FDA is now investigating the Smart Choices program.