The Illinois Local and Organic Food and Farm Task Force released its full report today, detailing the economic potential of localizing the food system. A statewide task force compiled the report, detailing how the state of Illinois can foster the development of a stronger, healthier, more viable food system for rural, suburban, and urban communities.
Legislation is now underway in the General Assembly, outlining the key elements of the food, farms, and jobs strategy, and would seek to increase the amount of Illinois-grown food to 10 percent of the statewide total by 2020. This could create thousands of new jobs across the food industry, from farms to businesses.
From the press release:
“This plan proposes dramatic expansion of the local farm and food networks in Illinois’ already world-renowned agricultural infrastructure. It encourages Illinois farmers to respond directly to consumers’ demand for fresh, tasty, locally-produced foods, and shows how to do it,” said Wes Jarrell, chairman of the 32-member task force that wrote the report “Local Food, Farms, and Jobs: Growing the Illinois Economy.” Jarrell is Professor of Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Illinois, and a farmer himself.
The report underlines the growing demand for local food and the current gaps in the supply chain:
“The business of creating and maintaining all the links in the local supply chain—aggregating, processing, packaging, storing, and transporting products—translates into jobs that cannot be outsourced. Right now, such a system doesn’t exist. There is not enough local food to meet the demand, nor enough farmers growing local food, nor companies in the business of processing local food. But there are too many food marketers disappointing their customers. This void is what is called opportunity.”
- The market for local food is growing. The number of farmers markets in Illinois grew from 97 in 1999 to 270 in 2008. The number of community-supported agriculture organizations, which allow consumers to “subscribe” to a variety of Illinois-grown food products throughout the season, grew from 14 to 68 in the past eight years. In general, there is far more demand than supply for locally grown food.
- Demand extends into wholesale markets. Illinois colleges and universities, as well as corporate kitchens, schools, hospitals, prisons, restaurants, and grocery stores want to buy farm products from nearby sources. Inadequate local food production and delivery channels pinch supply. Illinois’ predominant farm and food systems is designed to serve distant markets, not link farm production with in-state markets.
- Local food system development is a nationwide phenomenon. Many states are taking steps to satisfy consumer demand to know how food is produced, where, and by whom. State government’s role is to help jumpstart job creation, lending, and investment in the local food system so that entrepreneurs can grow the economy. By participating in this effort, Illinois is helping to create a new form of interstate commerce.
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