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: 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: CAFOs, Cob Connection and Altgeld Garden

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

• Illinois Alliance to Prevent Obesity sponsored an action summit on fighting obesity and improving nutrition on Dec. 3rd, with more than 150 stakeholders from 90 different organizations in attendance.

• Illinois Citizens for Clear Air and Water led a successful campaign to have the Illinois EPA strongly regulate CAFOs and enforce the Clean Water Act.

• Chicago Public Radio features a story on the development of a new urban farm, Altgeld Garden on Chicago's South Side.

• Environment Illinois released a report on the status of large-scale farming in Illinois according to the Chicago Tribune.  More news coverage here.

• In time for the holidays, Cob Connection is piloting Roots for Christmas, a program offering greener alternatives to traditional cut or fake trees.

 

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: CSU's Aquaponics Program and 2010 State of the Plate on Sustainable Meat

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

• The Green Chicago Restaurant Co-op is sponsoring a one-day seminar on sustainable meat on Nov. 17.  Register today for the 2010 State of the Plate at Harold Washington Library.

• Chicago State University’s aquaponics facility, a research and resource program on campus, uses tilapia to help grow fruits and vegetables.

• Growing Power is offering a Commercial Urban Agriculture Training Program in 2011. Click here to learn more and to download an application.

• Chicago Tribune examines the regulations that bar CPS school garden produce from entering the lunchroom. An increasing number of studies show that students engaged in school gardens score higher on standardized tests.

 

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: Crop Mob, Chicken Coop Tour and CFSC Conference

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

• Sweet Water Organics, an aquaponics company and urban farm in Milwaukee, is featured this week in The New York Times.

• Take part in Hen-apalooza this weekend, a Chicagoland Chicken Coop Tour of 16 different locations with backyard chickens.

• A new grocery store, “Fresh Family Foods,” founded by entrepreneur Quentin Love, opened near Chicago State University.

• On Oct. 10, 2010 (10-10-10), Chicago Oxfam Action Corps is organizing a crop mob to Spence Farm in Livingston County, IL.  Click here for more details.

• Helping Others Maintain Environmental Standards (HOMES) is opposing the proposed construction of a large-scale dairy farm in northern Illinois.  View the trends of the milk industry here.

• Illinois had one of the biggest losses of prime agricultural land being converted to developed land from 1982 to 2007, according to the National Resources Inventory.

• New postings of sustainable food jobs in the Chicago region are available on Good Food for All.

• The last day to register for the Community Food Security Coalition Conference is Friday, Oct. 1.

 

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.