2021 Illinois General Assembly Food Related Legislative Wins
Image Credit: Yinan Chen
Now that the General Legislative session has ended, we’ve worked with Illinois Stewardship Alliance, Illinois Environmental Council, Illinois Public Health Institute Alliance for Health Equity, and Greater Chicago Food Depository to compile all of the food related legislative wins! All of the following pieces of legislation are headed to Governor Prizker’s desk to be signed into law.
While we’ve listed a few organizations that have been leading the charge for food justice and equity, it takes a village! Countless organizations, businesses, and individuals worked together to make all of these victories possible.
Farm, Garden, and Small Business
Home-to-Market Act (SB2007)
Summary: This bill expands the sales avenues for cottage food businesses. Previously, cottage food sales were only allowed at seasonal farmers markets. Now, cottage food businesses can sell at fairs, festivals, from home, online, through home delivery, and at farmers markets. The bill also better defines what products can be produced and sold, like buttercream frosting and various types of canned goods. Many organizations and local leaders participated in this victory, led by the Illinois Stewardship Alliance.
Why this matters
In the pandemic when farmers markets were postponed, cottage food businesses had zero avenues for sales. The increase in options will make it easier for consumers to buy locally produced products and support our small local food businesses.
Illinois has one of the most restrictive laws in the country when it comes to where cottage food businesses can sell their products.
Modifying the restrictions around buttercream frosting, acidified, fermented foods increases the range of products cottage food businesses can offer, leading to increased revenue.
Sources:
Illinois Stewardship Alliance
Illinois Partners for Nutrient Loss Reduction Act (SB27474/HB1792)
Summary: This act will extend and add funding to the Partners for Conservation Fund with the aim of implementing the state’s Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy. Funding will be extended to 2027 and an additional $6 million will be added to the budget to meet Illinois’s two milestones of reducing nitrogen (15% reduction) and phosphorus (25% reduction) in Illinois waterways by 2025. The cover crop insurance premium discount program funding will be doubled and the Soil and Water Conservation Districts will receive increased funding. Many organizations and local leaders participated in this victory, led by Illinois Stewardship Alliance and Illinois Environmental Council.
Why this matters:
Illinois is one of the largest contributors of pollution that flows into the Mississippi river, which has created a massive dead zone in the Gulf.
Farmers who use sustainable practices like cover crops reduce the need for fertilizer, however the implementation of many conservation measures can be costly without support.
Commitment to long term soil health will benefit Illinois land owners, famers, developers, and communities all over the state.
Sources:
Illinois Stewardship Alliance
Soil and Water Conservation Districts
Home Garden Protections (HB633)
Summary: This bill will preserve Illinoisian’s right to garden on their property or on someone else’s property with permission. Once the bill is signed by Governor Prizker, Illinois will become the second state to guarantee the right to grow food for yourself. Many organizations and local leaders participated in this victory, led by a backyard gardener Nicole Virgil.
Why this matters
Before this bill, it was unclear whether certain structures were permissible for gardening. Regardless of the type of infrastructure used, Illinoisians deserve the right to grow their own food.
State Representative Sonya Harper pointed out that she “represent[s] communities that have had some food deserts for decades and we turn to backyard gardening and community gardening to fulfill our own healthy food needs.”
The pandemic highlighted how weak our food supply chain is in times of crisis. The right to grow your own food isn’t simply a hobby issue, for many it is a necessity.
Sources:
NPR Illinois
Institute for Justice
Good Food Purchasing Initiative
Illinois Good Food Purchasing Policy Task Force (HJR33)
Summary: This resolution will create a task force to review and monitor statewide procurement policy, specifically food contracts. The purpose of this task force is to find ways for the state to implement the Good Food Purchasing Policy, a policy that encourages institutions to consider five values in procurement: local, fair, healthy, humane, and sustainable. Many organizations and local leaders participated in this victory, led by Illinois Stewardship Alliance, Chicago Food Policy Action Council, and the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
Why this matters
The Chicago Food Policy Action Council estimates the city of Chicago spends up to $300,000 on food each year. The state’s total purchasing power far exceeds this. Good Food Purchasing seeks to redirect hundreds of millions of dollars to our local economy.
Boston collected data on how their city was sourcing food for public institutions and found that less than 2% of sales went to BIPOC businesses. Now that Boston has this data available, they can be more intentional about equitably allocating contracts.
Taxpayers deserve to know how their money is being spent
Sources:
Illinois Stewardship Alliance
Boston Globe
Serve Kids Better (aka Healthy Children's Meal Beverage) Campaign (SB1846/HB3490)
Summary: This bill will require restaurants and fast food chains to provide water, milk, or 100% juice as the default option for all children’s meals in illinois. Parents still have the option to ask for other beverages like soda. Many organizations and local leaders participated in this victory, led by Illinois Public Health Institute Alliance for Health Equity.
Why this matters
Improving the nutritional quality of children’s meals can improve diet quality and also contribute to long lasting healthy habits
Some children as young as 8 years old have detectable early warning signs of heart disease and the prevalence of type 2 diabetes is increasing and disproportionately affecting BIPOC children.
Marketing particular foods to children by calling them “kids’ menu items” and bundling the food and beverage as a package establishes food norms for children, which has the potential to contribute to long lasting patterns or preferences in other settings.
Sources:
Illinois Public Health Institute Alliance for Health Equity
Community Health and Wellbeing
Tackling Toxic Lead Service Lines (HB3739)
Summary: This act will require every municipality in Illinois to develop and execute a plan that removes and replaces all lead service lines while prioritizing those who are most at risk. Many organizations and local leaders participated in this victory, led by the Illinois Environmental Council and the Metropolitan Planning Council.
Why this matters
At least 686,000 lead service lines—approximately an eighth of all lead lines in the nation—remain in Illinois.
Black and Latinx residents in Illinois are twice as likely in comparison to white residents to live in communities with more lead service lines
All of the repairs required by this bill could help put Illinoisians back to work by generating thousands of good jobs in skilled trades. Over 20 years, lead service line replacement could create some 11,225 jobs per year and over $1 billion in related economic activity, according to an MPC analysis.
Sources:
Illinois Environmental Council
Metropolitan Planning Council
Food Equity and Access
Healthy Local Food Incentives Fund (HB2520)
Summary: This fund will allocate $500,000 for the implementation of the Double Value Coupon Program (sometimes referred to as Link Match) at farmers markets, farm stands, corner stores, and other direct-to-consumer venues. The Double Value Coupon Program matches Link card purchases at direct-to-consumer venues up to $25 (for a total of $50). Many organizations and local leaders participated in this victory, led by Illinois Stewardship Alliance and Illinois Public Health Institute Alliance for Health Equity.
Why this matters
BIPOC and low income individiuals are more likely to live in a food apartheid. Programs like the Double Value Coupon Program make high quality, locally grown, nutritiously dense foods available to Link card holders at a subsidized price.
Illinois imports more than 90% of it’s food and exports most of what it grows, creating an unstable local food system. This program incentivizes Link card holders to purchase from local farmers, stimulating our local food economy.
$1.00 spent at a farmers market can generate $1.80 for the community’s economy.
Sources:
Illinois Stewardship Alliance
Illinois Public Health Institute Alliance for Health Equity