By TIM ALEXANDER
Illinois Correspondent

PEORIA, Ill. — In Peoria County, there are 2,050 parcels of land smaller than 20 acres in size and 1,093 parcels of 10 or fewer acres.

Roger Larson, director of the University of Illinois’ Peoria County extension office, said help is available for rural landowners wishing to use some of their unused land for profitable enterprises.

The Peoria County Initiative for the Development of Entrepreneurs in Agriculture (IDEA) seeks to promote local food systems in central Illinois, including activities such as farmer’s markets, farm stands and community-supported agriculture (CSA), as a strategy for community and economic development.

A portion of the two-year-old project assists landowners in developing business and marketing plans essential for creating and maintaining a profitable vegetable garden.

“We also assist the landowner in developing a network of customers for their produce. We match them with those in the area looking to buy what they grow,” Larson said. “A lot of restaurants and grocery stores in the Peoria area are looking to buy their produce from local growers.”

IDEA was started, in part, because of a shift in consumers’ preferences to purchase their produce and other food items from local producers rather than from a supermarket. “With all of the scares in the last year or two involving E. coli in bagged produce in supermarkets, we are seeing more and more consumers that are looking to purchase their vegetables from farmer’s markets,” Larson said.

“There are several reasons for this. First, is the food safety aspect. Consumers realize that food bought directly from local producers does not carry the risks that purchasing store-bought food does due to chemicals, preservatives and bacteria.

“Second, is the freshness issue; the length of time from the field to your table is much less than with vegetables from the supermarket. And finally, people are demanding a face with their food – they want to develop a trust relationship from the vendor they purchase their vegetables and other food items from,” he said.

Though food purchased from a local grower’s garden can be more costly than buying from the supermarket, Larson said the benefits of buying locally outweigh any additional cost.

“If it costs any more at all, the reality is that people are willing to pay that cost,” he said.

The IDEA program offers other forms of assistance to landowners.

Since February, the Peoria extension has hosted a series of “networking roundtables” that have brought together local farmers’ market vendors and CSA plot owners to discuss concerns of those involved in alternative agriculture production.

Recent topics of the roundtables included insurance regulations, working with the health department, packaging and displaying products and responding to customer needs.

In July, the IDEA program will conduct tours of local CSA farms. The website www.marketmaker.uiuc.edu links vegetable growers and buyers from around the state.

In addition, IDEA has established a resource directory with information about new crops to grow, organic production, business questions and regulatory information.

“IDEA has multi-layered goals,” Larson explained. “First, it acts as a conduit for farmer’s markets and other buyers to connect with growers. It also provides help with business and marketing plans for individuals with extra land, who wish to become producers.

“IDEA seeks to impact the community economically, environmentally and nutritionally. We feel IDEA enhances the quality of life in the Peoria region for farmers, communities and society as a whole.”

Those interested in learning more about the Peoria extension’s IDEA program should phone Larson at 309-685-3140.