Good Food for All

Fresh Taste is Hiring!

We are excited to announce a new position at Fresh Taste for a Program Specialist to help evolve the food system work we are promoting in the Chicago foodshed.  Please distribute this job description to your networks and to individuals who might be a good fit.  We’ve hired a search firm and want them to earn their keep, so please direct all questions and resumes to them.  Looking forward to the next steps!

Download Fresh Taste Program Specialist Position

Fresh Taste Update

Hi folks!

It’s been awhile since we posted to Good Food for All, and not without good reason.  We’ve decided to discontinue regular posts in anticipation of our new website, www.freshtaste.org, which will debut this summer with new, exciting opportunities for anyone interested in supporting local food.  In the meantime, we hope you enjoy our archive of articles, links and helpful manuals.

Stay tuned!  We’ll let you know when the new site is ready.

Farm Bill 2012 - Update and Primer

The Farm Bill fast track was derailed last fall, but the bill is still under debate for 2012 and must be passed by September 30.  This means Congress must do one of the following:  pass a stand-alone farm bill, attach a farm bill proposal to another bill, or pass a short or long-term extension of the current law.

Here’s a selection of tools and articles to help you sort out the info.

This Farm Bill Budget Visualizer allowing you to slice and dice the current farm bill in a million different ways to understand where the funds go.

Farm Bill 101 This article covers the Farm Bill from scratch, in case you’ve don’t really know what the farm bill is or why we have one. The pdf report starts with the basics: “What is the Farm Bill” and includes definitions and facts.

Here’s a collection of infographics from a Farm Bill Hackathon, which brought together policy experts, journalists, and computer whizzes to create visual representations of facts contained in and related to the Farm Bill.

The National Sustainable Agricultural Coalition posted an article called “Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Major Factors Influencing the Debate” with a great summary of how the process works.

Fresh Taste Open House

Though winter feels like it's just begun, let's think about spring!

Join us on Groundhog Day, February 2, to celebrate local food, our new home, and the hope that spring is around the corner.

Check out the invitation below to RSVP, and be sure get a parking pass if you are driving.  We’re well-located on public-transportation too—details in the link below.  Hope to see you soon!

For details and to RSVP:   http://tinyurl.com/84bv8ou

A Round Up of New Food and Farm Related Resources and Tool Kits

This update was cross-posted on ChicagoREgen

New Source for Food and Environmental News
The Food and Environment Reporting Network, Inc., an independent non-profit news organization that contributes investigative reports to major media outlets on food, agriculture, and environmental health, has launched:  www.thefern.org

Farmers Market Management Tool
Check out a free tool for managing farmers markets, designed to cut down on admin time, make vendors easier to manage and keep customers better informed.

A Strategy and Tool Kit to Help Beginning Farmers Succeed
Check out FoodshedGuide.org  for a tool to assist farmers and creditors in understanding the new food business landscape.

Farm to School Toolkit Available
An online toolkit designed to assist anyone interested in incorporating more local foods into their school menu, available on the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition website.

United Fresh: Produce Affects All 50 States
View comprehensive state-by-state profiles that show the impact of fruit and vegetable production nationwide, demonstrating that the fruit and vegetable industry has a tangible impact on the health and economy of every state.

New Listserve for Chicagoans interested in Food
FoodLoveChicago is a space to share stories, recipes, events, inspirations, skills, resources and opportunities related to food and community. Join

Farm Bill Update, Two Great Reports, and Girl Scouts Join the Locavore Movement

This update was cross-posted on ChicagoREgen

Farm Bill Update
The fast track 2011 Farm Bill, which was part of the Super Committee process, was scrapped when the Super Committee could not broker a deficit reduction bill.  A more traditional farm bill process will begin early next year on the 2012 Farm Bill.  Here is a summary of the process, in two parts:  one and two.

The Plant was recently featured on WBEZ
Converting empty buildings: a template on Chicago’s South side? Read and listen here.

Report: Agroecology and the Right to Food
An important report presented to the UN Human Rights Council in March 2011, demonstrates that agroecology, if sufficiently supported, can double food production in entire regions within 10 years while mitigating climate change and alleviating rural poverty.

Report:  Building a Future with Farmers: Challenges faced by young American farmers
A new survey by The National Young Farmer's Coalition finds that access to capital, land and health insurance are the largest challenges faced by young and beginning farmers.

2012 Frontera Farmer Foundation application
The Frontera Farmer Foundation is accepting applications from small, sustainable Midwestern farms serving the Chicago area. Details and application are here

Girl Scouts Can Now Win ‘Locavore’ Merit Badges
Girl Scouts can earn a locavore badge through five easy steps, including finding their local food sources and cooking a simple dish that showcases local ingredients.

 

Show Your Support for Increased Farmers Market Access for SNAP Recipients by 5 PM November 17

A letter from Wes King, Policy Coordinator, Illinois Stewardship Alliance:

"Are you interested in increasing access to local food for low-income and under-served populations through the support of programs and policies to provide SNAP/EBT Infrastructure at Farmers' Markets and other farm-direct enterprises?

If so please consider signing on to the attached letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack asking him to make some key administrative changes that would level the playing field for farmers markets and break down barriers that have left farmers markets on the wrong side of the digital divide."

If you would like to sign-on to the letter please email Wes at wes@ilstewards.org by 5:00pm on Thursday. 

Download FINAL DRAFT VILSACK LETTER pdf 

 

For more information about www.ilstewards.org

Farm Bill Update, Mayor's New Policy and more

 This update was cross-posted on ChicagoREgen

 

Overview of the current standing of the Farm Bill

Check out Mark Bittman’s op-ed in the New York Times.

 

Mayor Emanuel Eases Restaurant Inspections for Low-Risk Food Establishments

Mayor Rahm Emanuel introduced an ordinance that will make doing business in Chicago easier for new and existing food businesses by initiating a self-certification pilot program for low-risk food inspections and improving the efficiency of City inspectors.

 

Chicago Public Schools to Serve Local Chicken

The Chicago Public School system announced plans to serve antibiotic-free, local chicken in its schools' cafeterias. CPS bought 1.2 million pounds of antibiotic-free chicken from Amish farms in the Chicago area. This school district is the first in the country to offer antibiotic-free meat at such a large scale. 

 

NRDC Announces Fourth Annual Growing Green Awards to Honor Extraordinary Contributions in Sustainable Food

Nominations will be accepted through December 9 for this national award recognizing extraordinary contributions that advance ecologically integrated farming practices, climate stewardship, water stewardship, farmland preservation, and social responsibility from farm to fork.

 

More Issues Surrounding the Farm Bill and a Statement for Local Food Economy

As always, this update was cross-posted on ChicagoREgen

 

Farm Energy/Clean Energy in Jeopardy with the Farm Bill

Key Farm Bill clean energy programs have advanced a broad range of clean energy technologies, advanced biofuels and sustainable energy crops. Given "Super Committee" actions in Congress, these programs may not continue in the next Farm Bill.  Here is a video and some more detailed information.

 

Statement for Local Food Economy

Advocates for Urban Agriculture has created a Statement for Local Food Economy  in the interest of reinforcing the importance of local and neighborhood-based investments in our food economy.  Read more here.  

Farm Bill 2012 on the Fast Track for November 1

The new Farm Bill has been fast-tracked, with an unusually brief window that closes November 1.  If you’d like to contact your elected officials, look them up by clicking here.

Here’s a round-up of articles.  (Thanks to SAFSF and others for the links and summaries!)

Super Fast Farm Bill? Super Fast Update!
Having sent off the joint letter, the staffs of the two Agriculture Committees hunkered down all week to stitch together a farm bill in what, if successful, would be record time.   Due to the brief two week window, none of the normal congressional processes for farm bills or other major legislation are being used — no hearings, circulated bill drafts, mark-ups in which committee members get to offer amendments, etc.  The primary activity has all been behind closed doors and has for the most part only involved the staff of the chairs and ranking members, not the members (and their staffs) who make up the rank and file of the two committees.
 

Quick and dirty: Congress may rewrite the Farm Bill in two weeks
This new Farm Bill will also be smaller, thanks to the deal cut to avoid a government default over the summer. In the wake of that agreement, Congress convened a “super committee” of House and Senate negotiators that’s required to come up with a plan by this Thanksgiving to cut $1.2 trillion from the deficit over the next decade. Of that total, $23 billion must come from the USDA budget—a number recently recommended by House and Senate Agriculture Committee leaders. There is panic in the fields of Big Ag at such a drastic reduction in farm and food spending.
 

When Some Farm Subsidies Go Away, Will Our Food System Be Healthy?
So if the most often-cited example of farm subsidies is about to end, does that mean we’re on our way to a food system that makes broccoli more affordable than fast food burgers? It’s not quite that simple. As we describe in a new report, released this week with the Public Health Institute, subsidies are not making junk food cheaper and more abundant than healthy food  – the real culprit is the deregulation of agriculture markets, the failure to enforce anti-trust law and the millions spent on marketing junk food.

Local Farm, Foods, and Job Act
Additionally, U.S. Representative Chellie Pingree (ME) and Senator Sherrod Brown (OH) submitted a Local Farm, Foods, and Job Act to be part of the Farm Bill.   This bill is called a "marker bill" and is intended to influence the writing of the federal farm bill.  The goal of the bill is to advance the development of local and regional farm and food systems in the next farm bill -- from farm to table.  Congresswoman Pingree speak about the bill here.