A New Push Is on in Chicago to Connect Urban Farmers With Institutional Buyers Like Schools and Hospitals
Researchers and local farmers see an opportunity to create resilient supply chains, bring healthy produce to food deserts, reduce harmful environmental impacts and create economic opportunity—all at once.
By Aydali Campa
Inside Climate News
December 7, 2022
Excerpt:
Marlie Wilson, project manager for the Good Food Purchasing Project at the Chicago Food Policy Action Council, said the initiative will leverage building investments in community health and community wealth. The council, which is involved in the project with Ashon, is a food justice advocacy group working to ensure that Chicago, Cook County and sister agencies meet their good food purchasing goals, including advancing local economies, environmental sustainability and nutrition.
The team will investigate and design pilot food procurement programs at the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services, the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center and Chicago Public Schools.
“We’re building out a more sustainable and equitable, healthy food system because our public dollars that go toward food are feeding so many across our community,” said Wilson.
One of the partners piloting this research, Chicago Public Schools, is the third-largest public school district in the country, serving more than 340,000 students. Ashton said that processed meats and desserts are some of the district’s biggest spending on food procurement.
“From a nutritional perspective and from a climate perspective, those aren’t the best things to be feeding our kids or people in general,” said Ashton.
The pilot models aim to measure how locally produced food can meet institutional needs through equitable and sustainable practices. The findings from these models will be transferable to food systems in other cities across the country, said Ashton.
“We hope that research to support equity and sustainability in food systems will bring more diverse producers to the table,” Chicago Public Schools said in a statement to Inside Climate News. “Our aim is to create—and maintain—long-lasting relationships with diverse suppliers.”
