.png)
Next Live Listening Session is in Chicago on March 14
The Illinois Food System Roadmap initiative officially launched last week in Rockford with its first of eight listening sessions around the state and online.
As explained by Experimental Station, the Chicago non-profit that is coordinating the project:
Join us to build a local, sustainable, resilient Illinois foodshed — we need your input, your intel, your collaboration.
The following is a recap of the Rockford event provided by Janie Maxwell, executive director of the Illinois Farmers Market Association and a member of the Roadmap project task force.
Twenty-seven members of the Rockford community came together recently to talk about the progress and challenges in the local food system they are facing regionally. Participants at the February 19 Illinois Food System Roadmap gathering were from farms, farmers markets, community groups, local government, not for profits, and organizations that work within the local food system.
Supported by funding from the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS), Experimental Station has convened a Task Force with an initial six-month goal of information gathering—what would an Illinois Food System Roadmap would look like; what are the initiatives already underway in the state to improve the food system; who’s working with whom; what are the needs and gaps? This Rockford gathering was the first of their statewide events.
Participants gave their input on the proposed Roadmap mission and values statements and discussed regional work and analyses that have already been completed, as well as potential opportunities to build a more robust local food system within the region and throughout the state.
Some key takeaways:
Be sure the Roadmap’s goals include education and healthcare.
Think of the food system as circular, including everything from growing to producing food as well as composting.
And ensure that the work is collaborative and builds connectedness and shared communication among all parts of the food system.
Make sure your voice is heard. The next in-person Illinois Food System Roadmap event will be at the South Shore Cultural Center as part of the Chicago Food Policy Action Council’s Food Justice Summit on March 14. Registration is free but required.
Click the button below to sign up for any or all of the upcoming listening sessions. All of the sessions are listed in the Events Calendar on the Local Food Forum homepage.