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Local Food Forum Provides Benefits to Supporting Organizations and Businesses
Local Food Forum is pleased to present Illinois Hemp Growers Association (IHGA) as our first premium sponsor.
I am actively seeking additional sponsors in order to help make this unique publication financially self-sustaining and enable it to grow. There will be more about this below, but the spotlight belongs to IHGA.
Hemp, according to historians, was one of the first plants woven into fiber tens of thousands of years ago. Its multiple industrial uses made it a major cash crop through most of this nation's history.
But as a plant in the cannabis family, it got lumped in with over-zealous efforts to criminalize marijuana use in the 1930s, when cultivation of hemp was effectively banned. This occurred even though most hemp has minuscule amounts of the THC compound that makes marijuana users high, instead producing the non-psychoactive compound CBD.
It wasn't until a decade ago when the restrictions began to be loosened, yet legal and commercial hurdles have continued to exist for advocates of a hemp industry revival. Rachel Berry, a hemp farmer in the central Illinois city of Princeton, is one of these advocates, and her passion prompted her to launch the Illinois Hemp Growers Association (an affiliate of the National Hemp Growers Assocation) in 2018.
ABOUT IHGA
The Illinois Hemp Growers Association is a women-led benefit corporation supported by the sponsorship, donations, and dues of grassroots members. The IHGA educates producers and consumers while representing the industry's best interests in Springfield and throughout the state of Illinois.
Its goal is to build the resources and relationships necessary to grow a sustainable and equitable hemp industry. The IHGA achieves its goal through public education, consultation and service, working with legislators and statewide media on the issues, and volunteerism.
Anyone can be a member of the Illinois Hemp Growers Association. It is free to join and it offers support to people who are interested in the hemp industry in Illinois.
IHGA members are farmers who are pioneering hemp as a new crop. The IHGA serves and represents many hemp cultivators in Illinois.
The IHGA connects processors and farmers. It promotes Illinois hemp processors' products and services to our members to maximize local economic activity.
IHGA members include small to medium size businesses who sell hemp products or are interested in exploring hemp products for their business.
IHGA members advocate for the hemp industry's best interest in Illinois and throughout the Midwest. It is a grassroots network of passionate volunteers.
SPONSORSHIP BENEFITS
Local Food Forum is focused on building community around the concept of a better-for-people, better-for-the-planet food and fiber system.
Knowing that most members of this community are not exactly swimming in disposable income, I have established what I believe is a very affordable sponsorship fee for grass-roots non-profit organizations, small/family farms, farmers markets, farm-to-table restaurants, and startup Good Food businesses. (Fees for larger organizations and businesses are negotiable.)
In exchange for these fees, each sponsor will receive prominent logo placement on the Local Food Forum website, with the logo linking to a profile of the sponsor on the website.
In addition, each sponsor will be entitled to up to 12 sponsored articles a year about your organization/farm/company and its work and the issues it faces. While this is obviously an average of once a month, these articles can be placed anytime during the year — which could be especially beneficial in promoting major events, achievements, campaigns, or other activities.
If you are interested in learning more, I would love to talk with you. Email bob@localfoodforum.com to start the conversation.
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