Making the path from farm to market a little bit shorter

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Last week, a statewide task force report was delivered to the Illinois General Assembly presenting a local farm-and-food development strategy that experts say could trigger $20 to $30 billion in new economic activity every year.

The report was created by the Illinois Local and Organic Food and Farm Task Force, which includes Bureau County residents Keith Bolin, Dean Craine and Allan Sexton.

In 2007, legislation produced by the Illinois Local Food Coalition passed the General Assembly and became law. The legislation called for the creation of an Illinois Local and Organic Food and Farm Task Force, which was to develop a plan for expanding and supporting a local food system. That report was due Sept. 30, 2008.

Last week that report was presented in Springfield and to the public, with Bolin as one of the speakers at a press conference.

At the conference, Wes Jarrell, chairman of the 32-member task force, said $48 billion is spent annually by Illinois residents on food, but only 5 percent of that money is spent on food grown in Illinois.

Jarrell said the committee defined local food as food produced, processed, shipped and consumed in Illinois, and the goal is to get more healthy and fresh foods into hands of consumers.

The report will generate both Immediate and long-term actions, and legislation has been filed in both the House and Senate to get key elements of the plan underway.

Also speaking was Debbie Hillman, who said the report presents a strategy for increasing the amount of money spent on Illinois-grown food to 10 percent of the statewide total by 2020 and to 20 percent by 2030, generating $20 to $30 billion in economic activity and
thousands of new jobs in farming and the food industry each year.

Bolin focused on another aspect of the report and said he had become supportive of diversification.

“I see this as an entry level for young farmers,” he said. “It will be a way to enter agriculture, requiring high sweat equity and lower capital.”

Jim Braun said there is local food legislation ongoing in other states, but nothing as complete as Illinois. According to the report, many states are taking steps to satisfy consumer demand to know how food is produced, where, and by whom. The state government’s role is to help jump-start job creation, lending and investment in the local food system, so that entrepreneurs can grow the economy.