Illinois Food System Roadmap Task Force: Getting What You Wished For
Experimental Station has been saying it for years: Illinois needs a comprehensive statewide food system plan.
Despite being one of the nation’s agricultural powerhouses, Illinois grows little food, importing most of our food from California and other states and countries. In fact, less than 5% of the food we actually eat is produced here, making Illinois severely food insecure.
When the Illinois Department of Human Services suggested last November that Experimental Station create that long-needed plan, we could almost hear the adage “be careful what you wish for.” But, without hesitation, we said ‘yes!’
From December through June, with the invaluable support of a Task Force made up of Illinois food system leaders, we engaged more than 300 food system stakeholders from across the state. Through in-person and virtual workshops, we built consensus around creating a plan and uncovered what is already working to fix our broken food system and what still needs to be done. These learnings have been compiled in our Illinois Food System Roadmap Phase I Report, now available on the Experimental Station website.
The momentum from Phase I is carrying us forward into Phase II, where the Task Force will develop a strategic framework for deeper collaboration across regions and sectors. This fall, in partnership with Illinois Tech’s Institute of Design, we will launch a food system design process focused on increasing local food procurement by schools and institutions in the Chicago region. We hope this will serve as a model for similar efforts statewide.
So, what does success ultimately look like? While a 5% increase in the amount of food we produce in Illinois would already mark a success, dare we think bigger? What if Illinois became the next California—a leader and exporter of sustainably and locally grown food?
Illinois Food System Roadmap Phase I Report
