SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - $14.4 million in funding will be provided to allow the state of Illinois to purchase proteins, produce and fresh processed foods directly from underserved farmers at fair market value. Under the Local Food Purchasing Cooperative Agreement (LFPA), the food would then be distributed to communities in need, including schools, nonprofits and the food bank system.

The Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) and Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) worked together to secure funding from the USDA for the initiative, which was proposed as a resolution by State Sen. Sonya Harper (D-Chicago).

“Promoting economic equity in food access and agriculture has been among my top priorities as a legislator,” Harper said in a news release. “That’s why I’ve passed both the law creating the Agriculture Equity Commission to study policy issues affecting minority farmers and the effects of food system issues on vulnerable communities, as well as the resolution establishing the Good Food Purchasing Policy Task Force to better ensure that healthy foods are sustainably, locally, and equitably sourced. Millions in federal funding for the purchase of healthy foods from underserved farmers is a fantastic development, and I applaud IDOA, USDA and the governor for making this happen.”

In a phone call with IDOA Deputy Director Kristi Jones, she described how state-wide partners will convene in year one of the program to develop an implementation plan, taking into consideration the needs of underserved farmers and communities not traditionally served through food distribution networks. The partnership will also examine how culturally appropriate fresh foods can be made more accessible to food insecure communities throughout Illinois.

“The LFPA is basically a planning committee, and the University of Illinois Extension will serve as the facilitator to lead the planning committee through this first year. IDOA and IDPH, which helped us write this application, will also be at the table. IDPH is really the expert in food funding for underserved communities,” said Jones, adding that the Illinois State Board of Education will also have a seat on the planning committee.

The Illinois Public Health Institute has identified the need for culturally appropriate fresh foods in certain underserved communities throughout Illinois, providing a clear focus for the program. “We really want to be cognizant of that during this planning process,” Jones said. “U of I Extension would like to meet with the planning committee in November and December to get the ball rolling, but from there they would like to host regional meetings. Having regional meetings open to the public and listening to underserved farmers, communities and (consumers) will help make this a very strong implementation plan for year one.”

Year two of the program will begin with a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NoFo) for the issuance of subawards for management of multiple state-wide aggregate sites, according to the IDOA, with the sites serving as collection centers for products from underserved farmers. Each site will be charged with engaging underserved farmers, purchasing food, tracking metrics, packaging product, transporting product and ensuring equitable distribution of products to underserved communities throughout Illinois.

Reaching out to underserved farmers to gain their participation in the program will be a “cornerstone” of the planning commission’s mission, Jones noted. “We will really need to count on regional expertise to reach these producers,” she said. “We do know that there are non-profits who work every day with and know these underserved producers, and we want to make sure all voices are heard.”

To that end, representatives of local and regional food bank systems will also be offered invitations to join the planning committee, Jones added.

“This is a two-year cooperative agreement with a year-one implementation plan. At the conclusion of year one the Extension will have an actual implementation plan. Then we will extend a NoFo that will include five or six food hubs around the state – they won’t all be in the Chicago area, we need to geographically cover the state. These food hubs are going to serve as aggregation sites for underserved farmers to bring their products to be compensated at fair market value,” Jones said. “The food hub will then package and transport it to underserved communities and locations. These could include non-profits, food banks, schools – the federal definition there is incredibly broad about who can be (considered) an underserved community.”

Once the infrastructure is in place for the program, a public-private funding partnership or further federal funding could be utilized to extend the life of the two-year cooperative agreement, Jones said.