Illinois Sees Four Organizations Receive Lake Michigan School Food System Innovation Hub Grant
Building More Local, More Nourishing, More Loving School Food Systems in Illinois
Oak Park, Illinois – Four Illinois organizations received funding from the Lake Michigan School Food System Innovation Hub to create more local, nourishing, and loved school meals across the Lake Michigan region. Made possible by funds through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Illinois Public Health Institute convened State Leads in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin and other national and regional partners to create the Innovation Hub, prioritizing areas that do not have equitable access to resources.
The Innovation Hub provides two grant awards to support innovative ideas to strengthen school food systems and products. The Spark Awards and Innovative Collaborative Awards are funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative to improve the nutritional quality of school meals through food systems transformation. Awardees are slated to begin their projects in August 2024.
“We look forward to funding organizations who have trusted relationships with their communities to tailor these innovative programs to meet their community needs,” said Dr. Crystal Pirtle Tyler, CEO of the Illinois Public Health Institute. “We understand the pivotal role school nutrition plays in the lives of students across the Lake Michigan region and we look forward to the opportunity to support and grow these innovative programs with our awardees.”
Seven Generations Ahead serves as the Illinois State Lead, working alongside the Illinois Public Health Institute and other partners to stimulate the creation of a resilient, equitable, and nutritious school food system in the Lake Michigan region.
“It’s wonderful to see the hard work of the Illinois Public Health Institute, partner organizations and grant applicants lead to the first round of Farm to School subgrants,” said Gary Cuneen, Executive Director of Seven Generations Ahead. “We’re excited to see how this pool of USDA funding contributes to the Farm to School movement in Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Illinois, and how collaborations develop across these states moving forward.”
The organizations that are receiving funding in Illinois include:
Artisan Grain Collaborative: Grains to Trays II
Artisan Grain Collaborative is working to create a diverse regional grainshed in the Upper Midwest built upon regenerative agricultural practices that steward the health of communities, local economies, and natural resources.
“The Artisan Grain Collaborative is thrilled to be among the Innovation Collaborative Awardees to better resource and connect local grain producers and K-12 schools throughout the Great Lakes region,” said executive director Alyssa Hartman. “Strong relationships across the supply chain from farmer, to processor, to eater are critical for ecological and community health and we look forward to piloting new strategies with partners that work toward these goals.”
Greater Wabash Food Council: Planting Farm2School in Southeastern Illinois
The Greater Wabash Food Council promotes agricultural practices and technology to support food access and environmental sustainability in counties in southeastern Illinois.
“This support arrives at a crucial moment for our organization as we introduce Farm2School initiatives in 10 school districts throughout the Greater Wabash region in southeastern Illinois,” said Trish Bellmore, director of the Greater Wabash Food Council. “This program will foster connections between local farmers and community members, ensuring that agricultural education remains a focus for years to come.”
Beyond Green Partners: Buy Local, Cook Fresh Illinois
Beyond Green Partners is a sustainable foodservice and consulting company that promotes scratch-cooked foods, local sourcing, and zero-waste.
“We are very excited to help three schools in rural Illions transition to scratch cooked local food for their customers,” said Greg Christian, founder and CEO of Beyond Green Partners. “Kids in Illinois are surrounded by beautiful farmland–lets build a food system that feeds the kids great food. And have fun doing it.”
The Common Market Great Lakes: Lowering Adoption Barrier to Regionally Sourced Foods in Chicagoland Schools
The Common Market Great Lakes is a nonprofit, regional wholesale food distributor connecting communities to healthy food grown by sustainable family farmers.
“The power of locally grown, positively stewarded, nutritious food is underestimated,” said Eliana Pinilla, director of partnerships for The Common Market Great Lakes. “Our hope is to shed some light on what happens when connection and creativity are invested in school food nutrition. We really look forward to learning and charting new paths where ‘school food’ and ‘locally sourced’ are more consistently seen in the same sentence and in more K-12 menus.”
Future iterations of these awards will be available in 2025. Learn more about the Lake Michigan School Food System Innovation Hub, see a full list of funded partners across the region, and connect with a State Lead today at InnovateSchoolFood.org.
For more information, please contact Diane Chapeta, farmtoschool@sevengenerationsahead.org, or Colleen Feeny, colleen@sevengenerationsahead.org