SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Empowering food growers and consumers to purchase local foods and encourage local food system growth was the purpose of the first Virtual Food and Farm Week of Action, sponsored by the Illinois Stewardship Alliance April 19-22. Illinois Reps. Tim Butler (R-87th) and Will Guzzardi (R-39th) kicked off the week’s activities by addressing ways to take action to support the legislation on ISA’s 2021 Policy Agenda — policies proponents say would grow the number of farmers and local food businesses in Illinois, revitalize communities, protect soil and water, and keep food dollars local. 

Butler is a supporter of Guzzardi’s recent cottage food reform bill, which updates the state’s 2012 Cottage Food Law and 2017 Food Freedom Act to expand support for local and regional food producers. “A lot of our craft industry laws are so important for entrepreneurs in this state, but we unfortunately sometimes make it very difficult for them to carry out their business,” said Butler, speaking from his Springfield office. 

From his headquarters in northwest Chicago, Guzzardi said the government has a “big role to play” in encouraging local food production and regulating Big Food. “Sometimes when I come around with bills like the cottage food bill, people give me raised eyebrows. They say government should get out of the way and (not) support entrepreneurs,” Guzzardi said. “But I really believe that the work I am doing with the Stewardship Alliance is totally of a part with my beliefs on government’s role in our society. We have a responsibility to take care of the people of our state, and in food production there are some unscrupulous actors who place community food safety standards way down on their list of priorities.”

Guzzardi believes a different regulatory apparatus should be considered for small, local food producers than what applies to large food corporations. He envisions a legal mechanism that helps local food producers grow and thrive, which he details in his Home to Market Act (Ill. HB 2615). “To recognize that difference between cottage food producers and other food producers, I would create a smart regulatory framework that treats cottage food producers appropriately and helps the industry grow,” he said. 

The Illinois Stewardship Alliance supports Guzzardi’s HB 2615, in addition to several additional pending measures under consideration by the 102nd Illinois General Assembly. 

Currently, cottage food operators who want to sell their products at fairs and festivals, at home, through delivery, and through shipping are restricted by current regulations that limit sales to seasonal farmers markets. These regulations hamper business growth and cripple start-up food businesses, according to Molly Gleason, ISA communications director. Reforming cottage food law will provide more entrepreneurs, especially women, minority, and low-income entrepreneurs, a means to start or grow a home-based food business while also giving shoppers greater access to Illinois made products, she said.

Guzzardi’s Home to Market Act is mirrored by its companion bill in the state senate, SB 2007, sponsored by Sen. David Koehler (D-46th). “These bills expand sales avenues for cottage food producers beyond farmers’ markets to reach more customers,” Gleason said. “Farmers markets are seasonal and restricting sales to them is a hard hurdle to overcome for both producers and consumers. We want to grow these small businesses.” 

The ISA also supports the Illinois Partners for Nutrient Loss Reduction Act (HB 1792 and SB 2474), which extends a critical fund that puts tools on the hands of producers who are committed to raising crops and animals in an environmentally conscious, sustainable manner. 

“It’s about extending the ability to provide those funds, funds for soil and water conservation districts so they can keep programs going,” said Liz Rupel, ISA policy organizer.

Specifically, the bill would extend the Partners for Conservation Fund, which will expire this summer. The Act would extend the funding to 2027 and allow funds to be administered to implement the Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy’s 2025 milestone to reduce nitrogen in Illinois waters by 15 percent and phosphorus by 25 percent.

The ISA is also in support of a House resolution (HR 0148; The Good Food Purchasing Policy Task Force) that would compel the state to purchase food based on a few core values: purchases would be of local fare, and the food should be healthy, sustainable and humanely raised. It would replace the state’s current “lowest bid” purchase policy.

“What we want to see is a shift in state procurement policy to support more local purchasing and invest more state funds into supporting and procuring food from the farmers in our state,” Gleason said. “This resolution would create a task force to study what it would take for the state to shift the procurement policy and study the supply and make recommendations.”

The ISA also has two appropriations requests for the state budget. One is for the Fall Covers for Spring Savings program, an Illinois Department of Agriculture managed initiative that rewards farmers for planting cover crops after their fall harvest via a $5 per acre crop insurance premium. The program faces sunsetting after two successful years of enrollment. 

Another budget request is $500,000 in state funds for renewal of the Healthy Local Food Incentives Fund, which aids farmers markets in the engagement of a SNAP match program or expansion of an existing SNAP match program. “This program helps more low-income families enjoy fresh, local, healthy food while incentivizing them to spend their federal SNAP dollars at farmers markets,” said Rupel.

The ISA’s Virtual Farm and Food Week of Action offered small food producers an opportunity to participate in prescheduled virtual constituent meetings with Guzzardi, Butler, Koehler and more than a dozen other state lawmakers during the four-day event.