Illinois Media Coverage

* Home * News Back to School Notes: All Decatur Schools Make AYP, Offer Healthier Food Op by Julie Shimada. Decatur News Online. Published 08/08/2010.
At Renfroe and Decatur High, in addition to the traditional cafeteria line, students can now choose foods from the "Fast ‘n Fresh" section, which includes a salad bar, a sandwich station, and other fast and healthy items. Jennifer Weissman, of the Decatur Farm to School program told Decatur News Online, "Students and teachers are enjoying the new offerings. They like choosing their own salad and sandwich toppings, and we're thrilled to provide new healthy options at lunch time." Read the entire article.

Chicago Public Schools Will Contract $500,000 in Illinois Produce. Prairie Farmer. Published 07/20/2010.
Family Farmed.org is partnering with Chartwells-Thompson Hospitality, the major food service provider for the Chicago Public Schools, to ask Illinois farmers to contract for $500,000 of fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables. This will be in addition to the $1.8 million in local farm products they purchased last year from growers in Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois. This will take CPS regional procurement of fruits and vegetables to $2.3 million for the 2010-11 school year. Read the entire article.

Gov. Quinn Signs Local Food Laws To Benefit Low Income Families, Schools. Chicagoist. Published 07/20/2010.
Gov. Quinn signed into law Saturday two new pieces of legislation aimed at making it easier for low income families and schools to obtain local food. Read the entire article.

Chartwells-Thompson Hospitality increases buy from local farms program to over $2 million. Food CEO. Published 07/18/2010.
Chartwells-Thompson Hospitality, the major food service provider for Chicago Public Schools, is asking Illinois farmers to contract for $500,000 of fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables in addition to the $1.8 million in local farm products purchased last year.

“We want apples, peaches pears, broccoli, beans, potatoes and other fruits and vegetables grown by Illinois farmers to serve nearly 305,000 students in 481 schools every day,” said Bob Bloomer, regional vice president for Chartwells-Thompson. “This is good for local farmers and great for Chicago students.” Read the entire article.

Quinn signs laws promoting local food by Ted Gregory. Chicago Tribune. Published 07/17/2010.
At the state's longest-running farmers market on Saturday, Gov. Pat Quinn authorized legislation aimed at making it easier for schools and low-income consumers to obtain locally-grown food. The Farm-to-School database will create an electronic database on the state Department of Agriculture Web site that allows schools and local farmers to connect on the purchase of fresh produce. The Farmers' Market Technology Improvement Act makes it easier for sellers at the markets to accept Link cards, state-issued debit cards for food stamp recipients. Read the entire article.

School Nutrition Improving Through Decatur Farm to School Initiative by Julie Shimada. Decatur News Online. Published 06/29/2010.
Over the past school year, the Decatur Farm to School Initiative began to make an impact in the diets and the lives of children in the community. The grassroots organization, started by parents, teachers, and school administrators to bring healthy foods into the City Schools of Decatur nutrition program, also teaches students about nutrition and how to care for a garden. Read the entire article.

Farm to spork: Children see fruits of partnering schools with farms by Rachel Gleason. Great Lakes Echo. Published 10/29/2009.
At McAuliffe Elementary School in Chicago, kids are more likely to see local fruits and veggies on their lunch trays than mystery meat and greasy pizza. They also visit local farms and learn about how the food is grown. "It gives them a sense of appreciation," said Gary Cuneen, founding director of an organization that partners schools with local farms. "We are trying to teach kids that taking care of the earth and taking care of their bodies are interrelated goals." Read the entire article.

Community Foundation awards $1 million to quality of life efforts by Sherri Begin Welch. Crain's Detroit Business. Published 09/24/2009.
The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan has awarded $1.04 million to local nonprofits working to improve the quality-of-life in the region. Read the entire article.

Greener food, local agriculture on agenda by Janet Rausa Fuller. Chicago Sun Times. Published 09/23/2009.
Wright detailed parts of the new campaign, including a farm-to-school program to get more locally grown foods into schools. The weekly White House farmers market, which opened last week, is part of the "Know Your Farmer" project. Read the entire article.

An Oasis in Chicago's Food Deserts. Extra Newspaper. Published 09/22/2009.
An estimated 633,000 Chicagoans live in "food deserts," a term experts give to a densely populated area with limited access to grocery stores and healthy food options. Residents in these areas have to travel nearly twice as far to get to a grocery store than to a fast food restaurant. Lack of fresh, affordable fruits and vegetables in urban neighborhoods has been linked to high rates of childhood obesity and diabetes in low-income families. Fresh from the Farm, a farm-to-school program administered by Seven Generations Ahead (SGA), is combating this trend by introducing urban kids to gardening, farming, ecology and nutritious food choices. Fresh from the Farm recently wrapped a seven-week summer program at Ames Middle School in Logan Square. The kids met three times a week for hands-on instruction. Read the entire article.

Illinois Is the Latest State to Look Local for Food - but Is Local Better? by Haley A. Lovett. www.findingdulcinea.com. Published 08/24/2009.
Farm-to-school and other local food programs are sprouting up across the U.S., as Illinois looks to local farms to boost the economy and fill vacant lots in Chicago. During the Illinois State Fair's agriculture day, Governor Pat Quinn signed a law that would encourage more purchases of local food by government agencies to help struggling farmers.Currently, only about 10 percent of the food eaten by Illinois residents comes from the state, nearly 80 percent of the state land is farmland, reports John O'Connor of the AP. Read the entire article.

Fresh Farms Give City Children Food Options by Natalie Moore. Chicago Public Radio. Published 08/16/2009.
A free program called Fresh from the Farm is teaching students about food in creative ways. The goal is to form them to have agency when making their own food choices. This radio show features Fresh from the Farm's summer work at the Ames Middle School. Read the entire article.

Slow Food Chicago Eat-in to rally at Daley Plaza by Janet Barrett. Examiner.com. Published 07/17/2009.
Community groups and school groups, parents, teachers and students; anyone who cares about providing uncompromised quality in school lunches can be a part of the Slow Food Chicago Eat-in Wed., Aug. 26, at Daley Plaza by packing themselves a delicious, nutritious lunch and joining in. Read the entire article.

Local food gets toehold in central Illinois by Kathryn Rem. The State Journal-Register. Published 07/05/2009.
In about a year, the Illinois Stewardship Alliance expects to issue a report with recommendations for improving and strengthening the local food system. Topics the task force may examine include: Farm-to-school programs. These can include everything from gardening on school property and teaching farm curriculum to helping kids cook and serving local foods in school lunchrooms. Read the entire article.

Edible Change is Enticing at 4th Annual Food Policy Summit by Lynn Peemoeller. Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. Published 04/16/2009.
In its fourth year the summit Edible Change! Building Networks for Policy Action, hosted by the Chicago Food Policy Advisory Council (CFPAC) reached full capacity bringing together over 250 people from the Chicago area and around the region with amazing diversity of geography, ethnicity, and age to talk, learn, and share stories about food. And who doesn't like to talk about food? Read the entire article.

PTA Council Seeks Support For Healthy School Initiatives by Victoria Scott. Evanston Round Table. Published 02/18/2009.
Farm-to-school programs - where schools receive locally grown produce to use in preparing their meals - could reduce the cost of school lunches as well as improve nutrition, said JLTF chair Bob Heuer. He added that State representative Julie Hamos plans to propose legislation later this month that would make locally-sourced fruits and vegetables and other food products more readily available for institutional markets like school-meal programs. Illinois consumers spend $48 billion a year on food. Even though Illinois is an agricultural state, 95 percent of its food comes from outside the state's borders, traveling an average of 1,500 miles to get here. According to the draft resolution, there are already 2,016 farm-to-school programs nationwide. Read the entire article.

A foodie wish list for President Obama by Monica Eng. Chicago Tribune. Published 02/04/2009.
Rochelle Davis, founding executive director of the Healthy Schools Campaign: Adequately fund school food programs "This includes increasing the federal reimbursement rate to $3.50 for lunch [it currently is $2.59], providing grants to schools for kitchen facilities that allow the preparation of healthful meals, grants for training of school-food workers, a commodity food program that supports health and support for farm-to-school programs that bring the freshest, healthiest produce to schools." Read the entire article.

School menus freshen up by Stephen J. Hedges and Jo Napolitano. Chicago Tribune. Published 11/09/2008.
Once the province of tater tots, reheated burgers and chocolate milk, school lunches are increasingly featuring local produce and healthy foods as administrators battle rising food prices and expanding student waistlines. A movement that began a decade ago by putting fresh produce into a few California schools is now active in 2,000 school districts in 39 states, according to the National Farm to School project. Read the entire article.

Young sprouts learn their garden lessons well by Deborah Donovan. Daily Herald. Published 05/03/2008.
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Fresh Food Program Promotes Healthy Eating Habits Among Children. Illinois Ag Connection. Published 04/09/2008.
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