SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – An Illinois House resolution sponsored by two state representatives urges the Chicago Public School (CPS) board to reconsider their years-long prohibition on pork products within the cafeteria menus of their 650-plus schools. The resolution, offered by the Illinois Pork Producers Association (IPPA), was filed by Illinois House Ag Committee Chairwoman Sonya Harper, a Democrat whose 6th District includes many schools within the CPS system.

“(Harper) is urging Chicago Public Schools to review their current policy,” said IPPA Executive Director Jennifer Tirey, who updated IPPA’s efforts to reunite pork with the CPS menu during the IPPA’s annual meeting in Springfield on Feb. 17.

“The largest percentages of demographic groups in the CPS system are Latino, African American, white, Asian and multi-racial. Of those students the pork consumption for those households in the Chicagoland area is 79.6 percent Hispanic, 79.1 white and 75.8 percent African American. Those households already consume pork in their homes,” Tirey told a large crowd of IPPA voting officers and other producers gathered at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library.

“CPS serves over 350,000 meals per day and currently there is a ban on pork products for their breakfast and lunch program. Our association found out by accident around March of 2025 by sending out our cookbook to food service directors across the state of Illinois that pork is not offered on the CPS menu. The Cook County public foods director responded back to (us) and said that unfortunately they cannot serve pork.”

A similar resolution will soon be filed by State Sen. Celina Villanueva, a Democrat whose 12th District also includes schools within the CPS, according to Tirey.

The CPS policy prohibiting pork, which was pushed through during a sparsely attended online board meeting at the height of the pandemic, led IPPA to request and receive permission to consult directly with the nutritional director for the CPS system. To prepare, they brought in someone from the National Pork Board to consult with the IPPA team on how to approach the CPS, but IPPA’s initial requests to restore pork to the school menu were rebuffed.

At that point, IPPA began turning to Freedom of Information Act requests to learn more about the genesis of the ban. Tirey learned that the ban went into effect in December 2020 during an “eight hour-long board meeting” and was voted on “in consent calendar” with only six board members remaining on a Zoom call.

“So, we have not found any documentation giving us the reason why this has happened. We started having meetings with Latino caucus members. We started talking to legislators. We started talking with CPS board members,” she said. “I heard back from multiple CPS board members and none of them had any idea pork was banned.”

Tirey’s second application, which was copied by four other IPPA farmer-leaders to increase their odds of addressing the CPS board in person (there is an actual lottery), had yet to be granted at Farm World press time. She was, however, allowed to submit five pages of written testimony that is now public record. She also shared her comments individually with all current CPS board members.

IPPA plans to continue to push for pork on the CPS menu by working with a strategy team to reach out to CPS parents, the majority of which, Tirey believes, are likely not even aware pork was stricken from their child’s school menu. “We’re going to encourage them to speak to their CPS board members and ask them why this protein is not available,” she said. “This action is coming within the next three weeks.”

In addition to the Chicago Public Schools issue, Tirey identified a number of other IPPA priorities for 2026. These priorities are detailed further in an IPPA impact report, “Advancing Pork, Supporting Producers, Feeding Communities,” which examines 2025 growth and engagement and reaffirms IPPA’s commitment to growing demand for Illinois pork. “Know that we are using your checkoff dollars and your non-checkoff dollars wisely,” Tirey said. “You tell us what you need to succeed.”