Good Food for All

Daily Digest: Aquaculture in Milwaukee and Local Foods Week in Michigan

Sweet Water Organics, an urban farm based in Milwaukee, WI, is featured in the Wall Street Journal for selling fresh yellow perch and lettuce to local residents and restaurants.  

The Peterson Garden Project, a former Victory Garden during World War II, is offering community garden plots.  

The Mike Nowak Show will feature a live broadcast, "Growing in Austin", from the Third Unitarian Church in Austin on Sunday, May 16, where community members will be planting a vegetable garden. 

Governor Granholm of Michigan proclaimed May 16-22 to be Local Foods Week, in conjunction with the National Farm to Cafeteria Conference in Detroit May 17-19. 

Schools in central Ohio are banning processed foods in favor of local and fresh products to serve in cafeterias.

Fruit and Vegetable Study Reveals Significant Potential for New Jobs and Increased Income in Illinois

Illinois could gain more than 5400 jobs and over $988 million in retail sales through increased production and marketing of 28 types of fruits and vegetables for local consumption according to a major study of the economic potential of increased fruit and vegetable production in the upper Midwest. 

The same analysis shows that if local fruit and vegetable production were focused on the state's nearby major metro areas, including St. Louis, the potential gain could be approximately 4,100 jobs and over $783 million in retail sales. 

The study, done by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University and funded in part by Fresh Taste, reveals that meeting our entire statewide need for fruits and vegetables would require only about 69,000 acres of land, or just 0.3 percent of the state's 23.7 million acres of cropland. Just under 50,000 acres would be needed for the urban center option. 

To download the full press release,  click here. 

To read the full AP story, click here. 

The Leopold Center study is the first multi-state study in the upper Midwest to examine the potential economic benefits of fruit and vegetable production on a scale that would meet the needs of consumers in each of the six states.  Download the full report here. 

Daily Digest: Yards to Gardens, Central Illinois Farm Beginnings and Students Taking Charge

Register early before 3/26 for "Taking Root: 5th National Farm to Cafeteria Conference", May 17-19 in Detroit, Michigan. 

Yards to Gardens offers online listings for gardeners, available green space, and more.  To post a listing or to view available opportunities, click here.   

Fed Up with Lunch, a blog written by an anonymous Illinois teacher eating school lunch for an entire year, has a guest student blogger who wants to find out the ingredients in her school's food.  Students Taking Charge, a project of Action for Healthy Kids, has photos of a recent Chicago youth convening. 

Chicago Magazine features the 2010 Green Awards in its April issue.  Winners include Terra Brockman and her work with The Land Connection.  Read the article here.  Last year's winners included Orrin Williams and Harry Rhodes of Growing Home and Brenda Palms-Barber of Sweet Beginnings, LLC. 

Click here to view a Google Map of Central Illinois Farm Beginnings graduates. 

View Central Illinois Farm Beginnings Connections (public) in a larger map

Daily Digest: Kitchen Chicago, Slow Food Indy, and Illinois Obesity Prevention Hearings

Chicago Tonight features Kitchen Chicago owner Alexis Leverenz and Flora Confections' Flora Lazar to explain the recent confusion over business licensing for shared kitchens. 

Slow Food USA features an an article on Slow Food Indy, a growing chapter in Indianapolis. 

At the recent Home Grown Economy Conference in Minnesota, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Rep. Collin Peterson and USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack endorsed local and regional food systems. 

Terra Brockman, founder of The Land Connection, has an op-ed featured on Civil Eats about the recent county health rankings report and why Woodford County is one of the healthiest counties in Illinois.    

Seven Generations Ahead is offering a Fresh from the Farm teacher training program. Click here to download the flyer.  

CityBees/Detroit will host a conference "All about Bees" on March 6th.  Visit the Good Food for All Event Calendar (click on the "Agenda" tab at the right) to see other upcoming events. 

Illinois Department of Public Health is requesting public or written testimony on obesity prevention from dietitians, nutritionists, community health workers, parents, teachers, etc. 

To submit written testimony, send an email to: DPH.MAILUS@illinois.gov with “Obesity Initiative” in the subject line.  The deadline for written testimony is March 15, 2010.  Public hearings will take place in Chicago, Springfield, and Carbondale. 

Daily Digest: Invasive Species, Climate Change, and One Seed Chicago

Neil Hamilton, Director of the Agricultural Law Center at Drake,  has a guest column in the Des Moines Register on the need for agricultural resilience and educating consumers on the climate dimensions of food. 

The New Yorker has an extensive profile on Whole Foods CEO John Mackey, who recently resigned as Chairman of the Board. 

Michigan is suing Illinois to protect the Great Lakes from Asian carp. 

Vote for your favorite seed at One Seed Chicago, and receive the winning seeds in the mail for free. 

New job posting: Download the Garden Apprentice and Intern Program Instructor Job Description at the Gary Comer Youth Center. Click here for a full listing of job opportunities in the Chicago region. 

Daily Digest: CFSC Scholarships, Umoja Community Builders, and Aquaponics

Scholarships to the CFSC Conference in Des Moines, IA are due Monday, Aug. 17.  Download Fresh Taste scholarship application. 

An analytical look at Detroit's food landscape and opportunities for urban farms:  Could agriculture be the 'new urban renewal?' 

Growing Home was profiled on Chicago Now. 

Over 35 students from North Lawndale worked as Umoja Community Builders this summer, conducting surveys and researching food access issues in their community. 

OrganicNation.TV profiles aquaponics at AquaRanch in Flanagan, IL. 

An investigative Tribune report looks at pesticides in peaches and the Environmental Working Group's "Dirty Dozen". 

(Via)

Daily Digest: EBT, Real Food Challenge, & Top 10 Food Policy Destinations

Flint, Michigan is considering an urban agriculture ordinance to improve the permit process for growing on community garden plots. 

The Atlantic takes a look at venture capitalism and the future of funding organic farming.  

Real Food Challenge hosted its Midwest Leadership Retreat last week in Ames, IA.  The training brought together students from across the U.S. to share best practices and gain skills for launching sustainable food campaigns on campuses this fall. 

Farmers Market Coalition and the Community Food Security Coalition announced a new program to increase the use of EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer) use at farmers' markets. 

The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition has released its position paper on Climate Change and Agriculture: Impacts and Opportunities at the Farm Level. 

U.S. Food Policy blog gives the "Top 10 Food Policy Destinations", with the help of Google Maps.