USDA Food Systems Announcement 6/1
Ag Secretary Vilsack to Outline Food System Transformation Framework
USDA to Outline Food System Transformation
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has scheduled an important event this coming Wednesday (June 1) at 10:30 a.m. central. According to USDA, the online program will feature “an announcement by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack on USDA’s framework for shoring up the food supply chain and transforming the food system to be fairer, more competitive, and more resilient.”
This pending announcement is the latest in a series of initiatives taken by the Biden administration to provide greater support for small farms and local producers across the nation, including those from historically under-represented constituencies, and to address systemic obstacles such as the shortage of accessible meat processing facilities for smaller producers.
Wednesday’s announcement takes on added importance because it may be a window into the administration’s approach to the 2023 Farm Bill, which will establish federal law for the following five years governing food, farm and food assistance programs.
Given that the pandemic exposed major flaws in the nation’s conventional food system and prompted increased consumer interest in local food, opportunities exist for making gains in the Farm Bill that create better equity for our local food communities. But these gains would be hard won and won’t be made without all-out efforts from those of us who support a better food system.
The links to tune into Wednesday’s webinar are below.
Double-Barreled Start to Composting
I have long tried to walk the walk as a Good Food advocate in terms of my food-buying habits. But I admit to being a little late to the game in terms of collecting my food scraps for composting. Something about having buckets of garbage sitting around our apartment kitchen for days.
Nonetheless, we decided that it’s time. I’d heard about WasteNot Compost, a Chicago-based company that does home pickup of compostables using sustainable practices (including electric-powered trucks). They also accept a much wider range of items than I expected, including not only plant waste but also meat, bones, and paper products (even used paper towels). I’d met some of their representatives at various farmers markets and decided to go with them.
But I did make one rookie faux pas. I figured we could get by with every other week pick-up… which turned out to be a gross underestimation of the amount of garbage two people can produce, especially when they eat about 99 percent of their meals at home. That bucket they provided filled up real quick.
Fortunately, WasteNot maintains a tent at the Logan Square Farmers Market on Sundays, so when I visited there last weekend they were kind enough to provide me with a second bucket. By the Thursday pickup day that one was all filled up too.
Lesson learned. We have already switched to weekly pickup, with the reward that we’ll have to take trash bags to the garbage chute a lot less often.
A Different View on Chicago
World Business Chicago, the city’s public-private economic development agency, held an excellent Future-of-Food Summit Wednesday and Thursday. I’ll have more to say about the summit and its emphasis on our city as the epicenter for innovation in the food and agricultural sectors.
For now, I’d like to share some photos I took during breaks of Chicago landmarks from a different angle in Chicago’s West Loop.
I hope you enjoy and also have a great holiday weekend.
Willis Tower, the tallest building in Chicago, forever known to many Chicagoans by its original name, Sears Tower.
The building with the antennas on top is 875 North Michigan Avenue, still known to almost all Chicagoans as the John Hancock Tower.
Chicago’s support for the war-torn nation of Ukraine is expressed with the huge blue-and-yellow flag that flies with the U.S. Stars and Stripes, highly visible from the Kennedy Expressway on the right. These flags are located close to the Chicago neighborhood of Ukrainian Village.
Looking north, the former Chicago Tribune printing plant in the foreground was recently designated by the city government as the future site of the city’s first casino. The tall building in the background on the far left? That’s where we live.
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Coolio!