Illinois Stewardship Alliance's 2023 Legislative Agenda
Leading farm and food policy advocate sets year's priorities
A Tall Tale
“I hear there’s some awesome local food in here. Where’s my cut?”
I always say my cooking-from-scratch philosophy is “What’s the fridge?” Hobes appears to completely approve.
Despite his size, Hobbes is still a kitten — he turns 1 on Monday according to his adoption papers — and he is into everything. And nothing sends him scurrying faster than the sound of the refrigerator door opening.
So far he’s only there to inspect and hasn’t tried to actually eat anything (granted that he is under very watchful supervision whenever the fridge is open). But if he had opposable thumbs, I have little doubt that he’d have made himself a turkey sandwich by now. I can’t rule out that he’d try to crack open a beer.
And, yes, he really is that long when he totally unfurls himself.
Building a Better Food System Requires New Policies
Illinois Stewardship Alliance is our state’s leading public policy advocate in Springfield. Each year the Alliance sets its legislative priorities, and this week it released its 2023 agenda.
The Alliance has scored significant policy victories in recent years, but it has not done so alone. It needs the help of concerned citizens across the state who reach out to their own representatives and senators to urge them to support measures that will help build a better food system. Visit the Illinois Stewardship Alliance website to learn how you can get involved.
Here is the Alliance’s statement laying out its legislative priorities and goals for this year.
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Illinois Stewardship Alliance is gearing up for the 2023 state legislative session with a bold policy agenda to support local food and regenerative agriculture.
In December, Alliance members from across the state passed a legislative agenda proposed by farmer members. Farmers worked with Alliance staff throughout the year to identify the most pressing issues facing the food and farm system and to develop farmer-driven policy solutions.
The 2023 State Policy Agenda aims to help Illinois farmers feed Illinois, increase farm-to-school opportunities, address racial equity in agriculture, and build climate resilience.
HELP FARMERS FEED OUR COMMUNITIES
Local Food Infrastructure Grant Program
While once every community had mills, butchers, grocery stores, trucking, and processing facilities to support local food production and distribution, an emphasis in the last 50 years on commodities and consolidation has gutted the critical local food infrastructure needed to get food from farmers to the communities they serve. This legislation creates a minimum $1 million dollar state-funded matching grant program, administered by the Illinois Dept. of Agriculture. The program is designed to help farmers and communities in purchasing equipment for processing, milling, refrigeration, trucking, food hubs, community kitchens and other infrastructure needed to scale up local food production and supply chains to meet the needs of Illinois communities. The grant program will be modeled after programs that already exist in neighboring states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Kentucky.
SUPPORT CLEAN WATER AND CLIMATE RESILIENCE
Partners for Nutrient Loss Reduction Act
In 2015, the State of Illinois developed a plan to protect Illinois waterways from nutrient, soil, and fertilizer runoff. This runoff is causing widespread algae blooms, contributing to unsafe drinking water and leading to a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. Additionally, runoff is depleting Illinois soils, the state’s most valuable resource in sinking carbon and building climate resilience. However, in the years following the development of the Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy, the state has regressed and farm runoff issues have worsened instead of improving. This Act provides a clear directive to state agencies to address this issue and a framework for how to help and support farmers in reducing runoff.
INCREASE FARM-to-SCHOOL OPPORTUNITIES
Funding for a Statewide Farm-to-School Coordinator
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) will receive $7 million in federal funding this year to reimburse schools for purchasing local food. In order to maximize the benefit of these federal dollars, ISBE needs a Farm-to-School (F2S) coordinator who can create, implement, and evaluate the new reimbursement program. This legislation creates a Farm-to-School program line item within the state budget for $250,000 for a Farm-to-School coordinator and additional wrap around services to support schools purchasing local food.
PROTECT AND CELEBRATE ILLINOIS’ MOST VALUABLE NATURAL RESOURCE
Soil Health Day & Week Act
Despite soil’s importance to human health, climate mitigation, soil remediation, nutrition, food, feed, fiber, and fuel production, there is little public awareness of the importance of soil protection. In 2022, the Alliance’s Soil Health Caucus championed a resolution declaring the second full week of March as Soil Health Week and the Wednesday within that week as Soil Health Day. The Act seeks to make that week a yearly celebration dedicated to educating the public and raising awareness of the importance of soil health.
ADDRESS RACIAL EQUITY IN THE FOOD SYSTEM
Socially disadvantaged farmers, especially farmers of color, have historically faced discriminatory and unfair treatment by local, state, and U.S. agencies. This includes land dispossession, loan refusal, and denial of access to resources. These inequities have resulted in extreme barriers to entry for current farmers of color who are beginning or looking to scale their farming operations. The Alliance is working with state Representative Sonya Harper to support legislation to address these barriers.
PROTECT FUNDING FOR CONSERVATION IN ILLINOIS
Funding for the Fall Covers for Spring Savings Program (FCSS) and County Soil & Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) needs advocacy in the budget annually. The FCSS program helps farmers implement a vital conservation practice to protect soil over the winter. SWCDs provide critical technical assistance to farmers. Increased funding will help every farmer in Illinois implement conservation practices that build climate resilience, keep waterways clean, and protect the natural environment.
“Our members are incredibly involved in the policy process from start to finish-- they help review and draft legislation, speak with lawmakers, and plan winning campaigns,” said Molly Pickering, Deputy Director of the Alliance. “We help them navigate the legislative process and provide them with the tools and training they need to be effective leaders.”
Farmer and eater members of the Alliance are often surprised by how much they can accomplish when they work collectively.
"I joined Illinois Stewardship Alliance two years ago to work on cottage food law," said farmer Ed Dubrick of DuChick Ranch in Cissna Park, who was recently named Chair of the Local Food Farmer Caucus. “Alliance members are steadily reforming the way Illinois does food, and our legislative agenda will do even more to help build local economies, support local farmers, and get good food into the schools and communities where it's needed most."
“Ultimately, we want to help farmers and eaters build collective power because we believe putting more power into the hands of people is the way we create real change,” added Pickering.
More information about the Alliance’s 2023 State Policy Agenda and how to get involved can be found at www.ilstewards.org
Alliance Seeks Events to Support Soil Health Week
As noted in the article above, Illinois Stewardship Alliance’s legislative priorities include making permanent the Soil Health Week resolution that state lawmakers approved during their 2022 session.
Soil Health Week this year will take place March 6-10, and the Alliance is seeking proposals for relevant events that are due by February 10.
The details for the program are in the following release from the Alliance.
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You, your idea, your farm, or your organization could be front and center at the upcoming annual Soil Health Week!
The application is now open for you to propose an event, workshop, speaker, screening, field day, or anything you dream up to celebrate one of our state’s most precious resources: our soil.
Whether it's a virtual presentation or a field day exploring soil health practices, we invite you to submit your idea.
The first Soil Health Week in 2022 brought together farmers and eaters, organizations, state leaders, legislators, and other partners at events on a range of topics that focus on the power and importance of the soil beneath our feet, including:
Building climate resilience with soil health practices on the farm,
Regenerative ag and human health, and
Soil health in the City.
This year, you have the opportunity to bring your soil ideas to the table.
What do you need in order to host a Soil Health Week?
An event idea! Events may be virtual or in-person. Perhaps a presentation on a topic relating to soil health or climate change, a coffee chat to discuss best practices, an invite to a farm tour/field day, or something else entirely.
Propose a date and time during March 6-10. Weekend dates may also be considered. You may need to be flexible to accommodate multiple events.
Have a location in mind (online or in-person).
Proposals are due on February 10. If your event is given the green light for Soil Health Week, here’s what you can expect to receive as a host:
What Hosts can expect:
A unique online registration form for your event you can share widely
Support for marketing your event and adding your event to the Soil Health Week Event Calendar
A marketing toolkit complete with tips and template copy to promote your event
Your logo and social media handles will be added to Soil Health Week material.
Learn more and submit your proposal here. If you'd like to discuss your idea first or brainstorm possible partners, please email me.
Liz Rupel
Lead Organizer
Lizrupel@ilstewards.org
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