In 2019, the Chicago Food Policy Action Council (CFPAC) continued to advance food justice and sovereignty for all Chicago residents by coordinating, facilitating, and supporting policies to strengthen the right of Chicagoans to produce and access sustainable, fair, nutritious, affordable, and culturally significant food.

The year got off to a great start when Marlie Wilson joined our team as CFPAC’s first Good Food Purchasing Project Manager. Marlie has over a decade of experience working to foster fair and sustainable food systems. She previously served as Illinois Farm to School Network Coordinator with Seven Generations Ahead and Farm to School Grants Manager with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture. Welcome, Marlie!

All of us at the Chicago Food Policy Action Council look forward to the coming months and the opportunity to continue to further our mission and increase our impact across the region.

If you are in a position to support us financially, please consider making a contribution to CFPAC as we raise funds to direct resources to improve the health, wealth, and sovereignty of communities across Chicago and Cook County.

Food System Development

CFPAC spent 2019 convening stakeholders to share ideas, lift up community-based food projects, cultivate collaboration, and identify policy needs.

14th Annual Chicago Food Policy Summit: Over 400 food justice advocates, urban farmers, and small food businesses across Chicago and the Midwest gathered in February at the South Shore Cultural Center to discuss, plan, organize and strategize around the region’s food policy issues. Urban farming, sustainable business practices, good food purchasing efforts, and equitable cannabis legalization were just a few of the topics of discussion. Free registration and simultaneous translation for Spanish speakers increased accessibility to the successful event.
>> short video to refresh reflection

Urban Stewards Action Network (USAN): Supported by CFPAC staff, USAN is a burgeoning network of black and brown leaders who are cultivating connections, providing mutual support, and transforming the food system across communities of color. USAN hosted three Food Fun(d)ing Friday events over the course of 2019, which are stone soup-style, community-sourced fundraising pitch fests that raise awareness about, and provide micro-grants for, community food projects across the city. Twelve different projects received over $8,000 in funds this past year.

Good Food Purchasing Initiative: CFPAC is supporting the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the Cook County Department of Public Health (CCDPH) with coordinating the implementation of the Good Food Purchasing Program (GFPP), which CFPAC advocated for the policy adoption of in the City of Chicago in 2017 and Cook County in 2018. CFPAC is supporting each department of public health with organizing Good Food Task Forces within each jurisdiction and supporting all departments and agencies to complete baseline assessments with the Center for Good Food Purchasing.
Productive Landscapes Taskforce: In partnership with NeighborSpace, CFPAC is facilitating a multi-jurisdictional taskforce to determine innovative ways to bring a variety of land uses and projects regarding sustainable agriculture, stormwater management, public recreation, and wildlife habitat restoration to underutilized public lands. The Productive Landscapes Taskforce is co-chaired by Cook County Commissioner Dennis Deer and Commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Josina Morita.
>>Check out the report on “Productive Landscapes in Chicago and the Southland: A Framework for Fostering a Vibrant Community-Based Urban Agriculture Cluster”

Midwest Consortium on Equity & Research in Food (M-CERF): CFPAC is supporting a collaborative space for researchers and academics interested in equitable community food systems and food sovereignty to share research projects, explore opportunities to work together, and build a repository of publications and resources on Chicago’s food system.

Buy Fresh Buy Local Illinois: A multi-organizational initiative managed by the Illinois Stewardship Alliance, Buy Fresh Buy Local (BFBL) Illinois will provide a comprehensive directory, both online and printed, of local food producers, processors, retailers, restaurants, and community institutions. CFPAC is an active member of the BFBL Illinois Steering Committee and is working to ensure that black, indigenous, and producers of color are included in the guide.

Center for Good Food Purchasing’s The Power of Procurement Conference: CFPAC was honored to host the opening plenary for this critical national conference in Chicago in May. CFPAC is fortunate to have the support of the Center for Good Food Purchasing in implementing the Good Food Purchasing Program in Chicago and Cook County.

Chicago Good Food Month: October was our inaugural effort to support a Chicago Good Food Month and held a screening for a La Via Campesina film along with a dynamic panel discussion on food sovereignty locally.
>> Watch the film and more info on the movement.

Governmental & Legislative

Our determined work at the legislative level continues to create real change and improve lives in communities across Chicago.

Worker Cooperatives Now Legally Recognized in Illinois: CFPAC is a founding member of the Illinois Coalition for Cooperative Advancement (ICCA), an emerging statewide coalition dedicated to uplifting worker cooperative policies, and the impetus behind the successful passage of the Illinois Limited Worker Cooperative Association Act (ILWCA). Worker cooperatives are now formally recognized and will be able to more easily access capital and resources.

Mayoral Candidates Forum on Food & Environmental Justice: CFPAC hosted Chicago’s first environmental justice–focused forum where mayoral candidates faced questions focused on justice within Chicago’s food system. CFPAC sent out a Mayoral Questionnaire during the runoff for the top two candidates to publicly commit their support for equitable, healthy, and sustainable food policy.

Cook County Commission on Social Innovation: CFPAC’s Executive Director is a member of the Commission and is chairing the Social and Human Capital committee.

Equitable Cannabis Legalization: CFPAC is a member of the People United for Racial Equity (PURE) Coalition to ensure that there are opportunities for all Chicagoans -especially those in communities that have been historically hit hardest by the criminalization of marijuana - to be successful in the new and emerging industry.

Mayor Lightfoot’s Good Food Purchasing Policy Day Proclamation: On October 19, 2019, Mayor Lightfoot issued a proclamation in honor of the second anniversary of the City of Chicago’s adoption of the Good Food Purchasing Policy.

Pushing Back Restrictive Poultry and Livestock Ordinances in Chicago and Cook County: CFPAC supported a collaboration of several partner organizations and coalitions to halt the adoption of ordinances in both Chicago and Cook County which would have placed new severe restrictions on responsible backyard livestock raising.
>> Read our joint statement

Grants & Awards

We are honored to have received several generous financial awards in 2019 supporting our mission going forward. Thank you to the following foundations, agencies, and programs for their generous philanthropy.

Margot and Thomas Pritzker Family Foundation: To generously support general operating and program costs, personnel,

Illinois Specialty Crop Grant: To support specialty crop producer outreach and education about the Good Food Purchasing Program in 2020-2021.

USDA Local Food Promotion Program: To increase the readiness of regional growers to meet Good Food Purchasing Program demand in 2020-2021.

Centers for Disease Control (ISPAN): As a sub-grantee from the Illinois Public Health Institute, CFPAC is supporting the expansion of healthy foods into institutional settings with a focus on GFPP.

Mander Foundation: To assist with essential operating expenses.

Field Foundation: To back USAN, Food Funding Friday and other community-based justice work.

Food Land Opportunity (Kinship and Chicago Community Trust): Partnership with Neighborspace to support the Productive Landscapes Taskforce.

Chicago Community Trust, Coleman Foundation, Chase Bank, and McCormick Foundations: Partnership with Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, John Marshall Law School, Adelante, and CFPAC to support the launch of worker cooperatives on the south east side of Chicago and Cook County.

CHIditarod: To support USAN to develop a community based policy development process..

2019 CFPAC Year in Review