Good Food for All

Daily Digest: Inspired by Slow Money (ISM), Mobile Food Collective and School Lunch Reform

Community Food Security Coalition and Farmers Market Coalition released a report, "Real Food, Real Choice", detailing the obstacles for SNAP participants to redeem benefits at farmers markets.  Download the full report here. 

The Mobile Food Collective visited Logan Square Farmers Market this past weekend.  Check out the video and blog for upcoming events. 

An increasing number of local Illinois farms are offering "haycations" for families.   

Civil Eats offers insight on last month's Slow Money National Gathering. Watch this video to learn about "ISM" = Inspired by Slow Money. 

The House Education and Labor Committee passed the "Improving Nutrition for America's Children Act".   Both bills are now on the House and Senate floors and must be passed by each chamber before becoming law. 

Daily Digest: Mobile Food Collective in Chicago, USDA Farm Transition Program Announced, and Farmers Using Social Media

Increasing numbers of farmers are utilizing social media to sell their products. 

USDA announced a new Farm Bill program, the Transition Incentives Program (TIP), to encourage retired or retiring farmers to transition their land to beginning or socially disadvantaged farmers. 

Chicago Food Policy Advisory Council (CFPAC) is organizing neighborhood council meetings. The next meeting will take place: 

West District Loop: June 1, 2010 at 6:00pm at the Pilsen Wellness Center (2319 S. Damen Ave)
[CFPAC is also working on getting a Northwest District Neighborhood Council established, which would include neighborhoods from West Town, Humboldt Park, and Logan Square to Jefferson Park and Albany Park. If you would like to get involved, please contact Dennis Ryan at Experimental Station].

Seeding Chicago has an overview of the recent Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture study on the economic impact of increased fruit and vegetable production in Illinois. 

Students at Archeworks have organized a Mobile Food Collective, including a Mobile Food Unit that will be used for food storage, meetings, and programming. 

As part of the Let's Move campaign, large-scale food manufacturers have agreed to cut over 1 trillion calories from their products by 2015. 

Daily Digest: National Healthy Food Financing Initiative, Chicago Honey Co-op, and Produce Trucks in Detroit

New legislation was proposed for the national Healthy Food Financing Initiative, which would invest $1 billion through loans and grants to build 2,100 new grocery stores in “high need” areas of the U.S. 

Peaches and Greens, a program of the CDC Community Development Corporation, operates produce trucks in Detroit, delivering healthy fresh fruits and vegetables to community residents.  View recent media coverage here.  

Five city-run farmers markets in Chicago will accept LINK cards for Illinois residents with EBT (electronic benefit transfer) this summer.  

A Walmart in Chicago’s Pullman neighborhood has received approval from the city’s Plan Commission.

Advocates for Urban Agriculture (AUA) Spring Members Meeting will take place on Wednesday, May 12^th (5:30-8:00 p.m.) at the Garfield Park Conservatory.

Chicago Honey Co-op co-founder Michael Thompson is featured in Grist.org this week.

The New York Times hosts an online debate of authors, farmers, and bloggers on how to scale up local food production. 

Daily Digest: Regional Foodsheds, Dill Pickle Co-op & Local vs. Non-Local Food Price Comparison

MIT and Columbia researchers propose that an integrated regional foodshed system can help combat obesity.  Click here to read more about additional models offered, such as mobile markets and food terminals.  

The Dill Pickle Food Co-op officially opened last week in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood.  To learn more about membership, visit the website. 

Is local food more expensive? The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture conducted a price comparison study between local and non-local foods purchased in Iowa.  Read the executive summary. 

Despite pledges from major food companies to advertise healthier foods to children, most products are still of low nutritional quality. 

Daily Digest: USDA Local Foods Broadcast

USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) is sponsoring an all-day workshop on Local Food Systems this Friday, June 26.  You can sign up for the live online broadcast here (8:15 am - 5:15 pm EST).  The agenda includes presentations on evaluating market performance, economics and impact of local foods, policy and role of government, and more. 

NYTimes Columnist Nicholas Kristof gives an endorsement for Food, Inc. in his latest op-ed. 

Civil Eats recently featured a post on Local Matters, a non-profit in Columbus, Ohio, partnering with a for-profit business, The Greener Grocer, to organize a mobile farmers' market in a "Veggie Van." The van, is equipped with EBT machines (Electronic Benefit Transfer), to accomdate those with WIC or SNAP coupons.  The van makes approx. 30 stops a week in different Columbus neighborhoods. 

Photo credit: The Greener Grocer