By Bob Heuer, HNA Networks

Republicans and Democrats don’t exactly see eye to eye on much these days.  They did though on June 20 at the county board meeting in Joliet.

Board Chair Judy Ogalla (R-Monee) secured unanimous support for “Good Food For All.” The policy proposal will be presented for adoption at next month’s National Association of Counties (NACo) meeting in Tampa, Florida.

Ogalla says county governments need to learn from the pandemic.

In spring 2020, COVID outbreaks forced large food processors to shut down. Farmers were left with no choice but to slaughter their livestock.  Crops rotted in fields. Grocery shoppers nationwide found empty produce bins and meat counters.

“People cannot afford to take for granted where their food comes from,” Ogalla says.  “The global food supply chain will again breakdown during emergency events.  Counties need a strategy to help ensure that every community has a dependable supply of locally produced food.”  

                                        Post-pandemic

Will County social service groups are stepping up community garden activity.  A Health Department-led collaborative is seeding neighborhood-scale food processing.

Community kitchens are in planning stages for Monee’s New Hope Christian Community Church and three Joliet area organizations.  County allocation of federal ARPA funds will cover about 20% of the $5 million cost.

Those groups could qualify for a new state local food infrastructure grant program. Year one funding totals only $2 million. Many of those grants are intended for farmers.  Will County, according to the Naperville-based Conservation Foundation, has at least 40 first-generation food farmers.

                                     “Good Food For All”

I’ve been advising county board members to partner with neighboring counties on a comprehensive financing plan to (1) make locally produced, nutritious food more widely available; (2) promote community revitalization, and; (3) create jobs that can’t be outsourced.

At NACo’s winter conference in Washington, D.C., board member Dan Butler (R-Frankfort) won “interim” approval for “Good Food For All.”

It encourages builds on NACo’s policy urging Congress to increase funds for “new, beginning and underserved producers interested in growing and selling food to markets in local communities.”

Will County proposal goes a step further—proposing a specific Farm Bill reform to ensure that limited grant monies can tap larger pools of private capital.  Seed funding could come the the quasi-governmental national lending network Farm Credit System.  (Its Wisconsin-based affiliate Compeer Financial serves Will County.)

                                Need  for bi-partisan support

Congressional Democrats have proposed this reform. But it’s been thwarted by Congressional Republicans.  

The provision would require Farm Credit System to invest 15 percent of annual profits to better meet its congressional  mandate to serve small farmers. In 2023, Farm Credit’s net profits exceeded $7.4 billion.  

A 15 percent set–aside would mean more than $1 Billion per year in non-federal funds for technical assistance, asset development, and other things that young, beginning, and small producers need to thrive.

Stay Tuned

Next week we’ll report on Ogalla’s plans to make “Good Food For All” a bi-partisan project to support community-centered agriculture—including small farmers, local food businesses and social enterprise agencies.

Bob Heuer is director of HNA Networks—a consultancy that helps organizations find their way through the intersection of food, farming and regional economies.