Good Food for All

Weekly Digest: Better Nutrition Standards for School Lunches, Zoning for Urban Agriculture and Iowa Local Food Plan

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

• USDA is raising its nutrition standards for school lunches, calling for dramatic reductions in sodium and calories. Read about the proposed changes here.

• Advocates for Urban Agriculture will host the AUA Winter Members Meeting on Feb. 2, 2011 at the Garfield Park Conservatory.  View meeting info here.

• Read an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune, written by Harry Rhodes of Growing Home, regarding the City of Chicago's proposed zoning ordinance for urban agriculture.  Read Nevin Cohen's op-ed here.

• Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture introduced the "Iowa Local Food and Farm Plan" to the Iowa Legislature last week.

 

Weekly Digest: Urban Agriculture Zoning in Chicago, Vegetable Seeds and Green Growth Platform

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

• Over 17 environmental groups in Chicago released the “Green Growth Platform” for Chicago’s mayoral candidates. The platform focuses on a number of environmental issues, including energy efficiency, water conservation, and promoting local food.

• Chicago Tribune has a story on the new regulations proposed for urban agriculture in Chicago.

• One Seed Chicago distributes free seeds, encouraging Chicagoans to grow a garden or join a local community garden. This year, One Seed Chicago's candidates are all vegetable seeds. Vote today for swiss chard, radish, or eggplant! Each person who votes will receive the winning seed in the mail.

 

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: Foraging Local Food, Rooftop Gardens at Chicago Hotels, and Food Deserts

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

• Chicago hotels are beginning to incorporate local ingredients, and have even started rooftop gardens.

• The 61st St. Farmers Market, run by Experimental Station, was one of two farmers markets in Illinois to receive a grant to expand the Double Value Coupon Program for SNAP/LINK (also known as food stamps), thereby increasing access to fresh, healthy and local food.

• Wal-Mart has plans to source more local food at its stores nationwide.

• A few entrepreneurial Chicagoans are foraging ingredients, such as mushrooms, to supply local restaurants.

• At the recent TedxWindyCity, Mari Gallagher presented a Chicago Food Desert update. Download the updates and progress reports here.

Good Food for All is a blog of Fresh Taste, a collaboration of funders dedicated to encouraging diverse local agriculture and access to food that is healthy, green, fair and affordable in the Chicago region.  To subscribe and to learn more, click here.

 

Good Food for All Weekly Digest: Academy for Global Citizenship, Shared Kitchens, and Improving Farmers Market Access

The Good Food for All Weekly Digest is cross-posted this week on ChicagoREgen.com.

• Academy for Global Citizenship was awarded the HealthierUS School Challenge Gold of Distinction Award.  AGC is the first school in Chicago and the entire Midwest to win this award.

• USDA announced the Farmers Market Promotion Program grant recipients.  For Chicago, Experimental Station received a grant to support and expand low-income consumer access to fresh, local and healthy foods.

• Chicago Reader reports on the City of Chicago’s business licensing laws for shared kitchens, including an interview with Zina Murray, founder of Logan Square Kitchen.

• The most recent issue of NYTimes Magazine focuses on food and community.

 

Good Food for All Weekly Digest

The Good Food for All Weekly Digest is cross-posted this week on ChicagoReGen.com. 

• Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) will release its GO TO 2040 Plan for final approval on Oct. 13.  Download the full report, and read the chapter on promoting sustainable local food.

• USDA announced the 2010 Specialty Crop Block Grant Awards, which include a number of Illinois grantees including The Experimental Station, Illinois Stewardship Alliance and FamilyFarmed.org.

• Growing Home will host a community meeting on Oct. 7 to discuss the development of an urban agricultural district in Englewood and their proposal for an EPA Brownfields grant.

• A new report “Building Communities with Farms” features Prairie Crossing in Grayslake, IL.  The report provides insights on communities that have integrated farms with housing developments.

• Growing Power is developing a new 7-acre urban farm on Chicago's South Side.  The new project, Iron St. Farm, will include hoop houses and an aquaponics system.  Watch the feature clip on WTTW Chicago Tonight.

 

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: Michigan Young Farmer Coalition, Slow Money Wisconsin and Locavore Dinner at Prairie Crossing

Slow Money Wisconsin hosted its regional meeting last week. Read the report here. 

USDA Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food blog features Darn Hot Peppers and how farmers markets can act as small business incubators.  

The New York Times profiled the Michigan Young Farmer Coalition, a budding network of young and beginning farmers.  

Evanston chicken enthusiasts are working together to change the existing ordinance that poses obstacles to residents wanting to keep backyard chickens. 

Illinois investors and chefs want to open a carp processing plant for Asian carp, due to the recent influx in the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. 

A documentary video of the recent Locavore Dinner at Prairie Crossing is now on YouTube. Watch the video below.  

Daily Digest: Feeding Illinois SNAP Hunger Challenge, National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, and Reforming the Livestock Industry

From September 19-25, Feeding Illinois is organizing a SNAP Hunger Challenge to encourage the community to understand what it takes to live on $4.50 a day. 

Farmigo is a new online market exchange, connecting farmers doing Community Support Agriculture (CSA) to consumers.  Other web-based portals giving farmers easier direct market access include Illinois Market Maker, Food Hub and Local Dirt. 

 September is National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month.  To learn more, visit the Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children's website. CLOCC will host its quarterly meeting on Sept. 15. 

 The Industrial Harvest project was featured in the Chicago Reader, explaining how the artist and urban planner Sarah Kavage is educating and engaging the community about the agricultural commodity system. 

The White House has appointed an 'Asian carp czar' to address the problems surrounding this invasive species in the Great Lakes region. 

The inaugural issue of the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development is available online until Oct. 1. Download the issue, dedicated to "Growing New Farmers" as its first topic, with a summary of beginning farmer initiatives nationwide.  

USDA is proposing reforms for the livestock industry, in order to increase competition and transparency. 

On Sunday, Sept. 19, Jim Javenkoski and Sunday Dinner will present a Locavore Dinner at Kitchen Chicago.