Good Food for All

Daily Digest: Local Meat Processing and LINK Redemption Availability at Chicago Farmers Markets

Record sales for SNAP redemption were posted at the Daley Plaza farmers market last week.  Experimental Station launched the EBT/LINK program at five farmers markets this year, in addition to offering a double value redemption program at 61st Street Farmers Market.  The food stamp credit program will be available at Lincoln Square and South Shore farmers markets this week. 

Crain's has two articles focusing on the local food movement and creating distribution networks for locally grown food in Illinois.   

USDA released a study on gaps in small-scale slaughter processing availability.  Click here to read the full release and here to see a slideshow with detailed maps. 

Healthy Schools Campaign highlights the Go for the Gold campaign and how Chicago Public Schools are adopting the Gold Standard for the HealthierUS School Challenge with their school lunch menus. 

Daily Digest: Local Food Awareness Day, Farmland Preservation, and Locally-Raised Meat

Starting in June, Chicago Public Schools will revise its school lunch and breakfast menus to offer more nutritious options as part of the HealthierUS School Challenge.

Join Illinois Stewardship Alliance in Springfield on April 28, 2010, for Local Food Awareness Day.  To register online, click here.  

Angelic Organics Learning Center has a new blog.  Read this post on chicken slaughtering in Chicago.

Incorporating demand for local food and preserving farmland in residential developments is taking priority in various communities across the U.S., including Prairie Crossing in Grayslake, IL.

Locally-raised meat is in high demand across the country, and suppliers are finding it difficult to keep up due to the lack of available slaughterhouses.

Daily Digest: Niche Meat Producers, Chicago Food Policy Summit Sessions and School Lunch Reform

Submit a proposal for a session at the Chicago Food Policy Summit, March 11-13, 2010. Proposals are due Jan. 22.  Download RFP for CFPAC 2010 Summit Sessions. 

USDA announced $25 million in grants will be available for schools to purchase new cafeteria kitchen equipment. 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that obesity rates are starting to plateau. 

Growing Home is seeking farm assistants. Click here to download the job descriptions. 

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a RFP for the Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) grant program.  Info sessions, application details, and community profiles are available here. 

How do mobile slaughter units actually work? Watch these videos to find out.  Below is Part 1. 

Daily Digest: Mobile Slaughter Units, Slow Food Chicago and Obesity Prevention

As part of Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food, USDA will be hosting two webinars on mobile slaughter units on Jan. 20 and Jan. 21. 

Small family farms are concerned about the potential construction of a road extension in Champaign, IL. Learn more. 

Eric Holt-Gimenez of Food First writes about the importance of local food policy councils. 

Kane County received an obesity-prevention grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. 

Slow Food Chicago will host its annual meeting on Jan. 31 at Kendall College.  View the Event Calendar here. 

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