Good Food for All

Weekly Digest: Apply today for the Local Food Business Plan Competition!

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

• Apply today for the SLoFIG Business Plan Competition! The Sustainably Local Food Finance Group (SLoFIG) is a new angel investment group solely focused on catalyzing the local food system. SLoFIG is sponsoring a Chicago region local food business plan competition in conjunction with the FamilyFarmed.org Expo Financing Fair on March 17th. Applications are due by Feb. 4, 2011.

• Advocates for Urban Agriculture (AUA) has a comprehensive overview of the Urban Agriculture Zoning Ordinance in Chicago. The City Council Zoning Committee will meet next Thursday, Jan. 27.

• Walgreens has plans to add more fresh foods to 400 stores in designated ‘food desert’ areas.

• Wal-Mart is also shifting its strategy to offer healthier foods in its stores nationwide. First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative will monitor Wal-Mart’s progress.

 

 

 

 

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. 

 

Daily Digest: City Provisions Deli opens, African American farmers in the Chicago Region, and Community Food Project Grants

City Provisions recently opened a local and sustainable food deli on Chicago's North Side.  

Chicago Reader features an in-depth article profiling African American farmers in Hopkins Park and how they are trying to connect to markets on the South Side. 

USDA announced its Request for Applications (RFA) for the Community Food Projects (CFP) Competitive Grants Program.  Deadline is Nov. 17.  Free grant assistance resources are available on the CFSC website. 

Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food, an initiative of USDA to support local and regional food systems, posted updated slaughter maps in the U.S., to assist small ranchers and farmers. 

Heartland Local Food Network released its farmers market guide to accepting Illinois Link cards, based on its program at the Downtown Bloomington farmers market.  Download the guide here.  

Loyola University will offer a Sustainable Food Operations course in Jan. 2011, taught by Greg Christian of Greg Christian Catering and the Organic School Project. 

Daily Digest: Vertical farming in Chicago, Industrial Harvest Project, and Carbon Nation Celebration

Illinois celebrates National Farmers Market Week until Aug. 7.  Read the "Illinois - Where Fresh Is" Farmers Market Network newsletter.  The biggest growth in farmers markets is taking place in the Midwest. 

Illinois Stewardship Alliance is partnering with Industrial Harvest, a project to better understand the global commodities system through the purchase of a "wheat futures" contract from the Chicago Board of Trade. 

Sustainable Chicago magazine features Plant Chicago, a new project to combine industrial reuse with aquaponics to create Chicago's first vertical farm.  Another article highlights LEED-Neighborhood Development certification and Prairie Crossing Conservation Community. 

Chicago Tribune follows Growing Home's heirloom tomatoes from seed to the table. 

Chicago Garden features Chicago Botanic Garden's Green Youth Farm program. 

Spotlight on upcoming events: (Event Calendar is here). 

• North Lawndale Greening Committee Annual Garden Tour, Aug. 7 at 10 a.m. 
• Carbon Nation Celebration in Millennium Park, Aug. 10 at 7 p.m. 
• Locavore Dinner at StarGazer Cafe in Prairie Crossing, Aug. 20 at 6 p.m.  
• Corks & Crayons for Purple Asparagus, Aug. 29 at 4 p.m.

Daily Digest: Hydroponics in Central Illinois, Fresh Produce in Drugstores, and Seasonal Ingredient Map

Living Waters Farms in central Illinois is using geothermal hydroponics to grow lettuce greens.  Read the full article and watch the slideshow here.  

Epicurious has a useful seasonal ingredient map for each state, as well as product descriptions and recipes. 

Chicago's Progressive Talk radio has a series of urban agriculture reports on its website.  If your organization is a good candidate for the next "Urban Ag Report", you can submit an inquiry form online. 

Local and organic catering business City Provisions will be opening a deli in August. 

CVS and Walgreens have plans to offer more fresh produce in select Chicago stores in the coming weeks.  

NBC Chicago has recent coverage about food access issues in Chicago, highlighting the work of Neighbor Capital and its partnership with Peapod. 

Daily Digest: Governor Quinn Signs Farmers' Market Technology Improvement Act

On Saturday, Governor Quinn signed the Illinois Farmers Market Technology Improvement Act.  HB 4756 lays the groundwork for enabling more farmers markets to use Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) to accept Illinois LINK cards. Download a fact sheet on the bill here. 

In Michigan, one teen is using her backyard to do a CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) for 14 members.  Click here to view the slideshow.   

NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams features a “Making a Difference” story on CEO of Wholesome Wave Foundation Chef Michel Nischan’s very successful efforts to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to SNAP recipients.  Click here for a link to the story and watch the video below. 

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Daily Digest: City Council Approves Wal-Mart, Whole Foods to Start Growing Own Produce, GoTo2040 Plan on Local Food Systems

The Chicago City Council approved the construction of the city's second Wal-Mart on Wednesday.  Listen to the full story here.  

Whole Foods will start to grow its own produce at one of its Virginia stores.  

USDA released a "How To" guide for farmers market managers to use Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) machines to accept SNAP benefits.  Read the press release and download the guide here.  

Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) has released its draft report on local food systems for the GoTo2040 plan.  The full draft report is open for public comment until Aug. 6th.  Comments can be left on the website or submitted via email.  Click here to download the Local Food Draft Report for GoTo2040. 

Gourmet Gorilla was featured on NBC News about serving local and organic school lunches. 

A new report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Trust for America's Health shows obesity levels in Illinois increased almost a full percentage point in the past year.   Illinois is ranked 4th in the nation for the highest rates of childhood obesity. 

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: Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, 2010 CSA Guide and Composting Symposium

The Local Beet has a helpful 2010 CSA Guide (Community Supported Agriculture) available online (and also detailed by neighborhood).  Click here to find out which one is right for you. 

The next National Good Food Network webinar will focus on third-party certification and value chain partnerships.  Register here for the Feb. 18th webinar. 

Illinois Stewardship Alliance hosted a successful composting symposium at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. 

Chef Jamie Oliver is the 2010 TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) winner for his campaign to end childhood obesity.  Watch his acceptance speech, and visit his TED page to learn more. 

Daily Digest: Latino Farmer Training, Antitrust Lawsuits, and Fair Food Network

The Department of Justice filed its first anti-trust lawsuit in agriculture, against Dean Foods. The suit could have major implications for the dairy industry.  Attorneys general from Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin have all joined the suit. 

In Northfield, MN, the Rural Enterprise Center is training Latino farmers to raise organic chickens. 

Irv & Shelly's Fresh Picks has capitalized on the rising demand for organic food since starting their business in 2006.  

Many concerned farmers and organizations in the Midwest are calling on the EPA to review the effects of the herbicide atrazine. Read the full story here. 

Having relaunched the Fair Food Network, Oran Hesterman is seeking to promote local and healthy food initiatives in Detroit. 

Advocates for Urban Agriculture will host its winter meeting and potluck next Wednesday, Feb. 3. Details here.