Illinois scrambles to boost locally produced farm products after federal funding freeze

SPRINGFIELD — When Illinois named small farmer Nathan Ryder a finalist for a federal $100,000 Local Food Infrastructure Grant, he made big plans for his farm in the southeastern tip of the state. Then the U.S. Department of Agriculture cut his funding.

The Ryder family farm, a 10-acre operation in Pope County that produces chicken eggs, sheep and some fruits and vegetables, would have used the money to purchase a refrigerated truck.  Ryder said he wanted to use the truck to sell his own products farther away. He was also going to transport other farmers’ food back to Southern Illinois, expanding that rural region’s access to healthy, affordable food.

“Why is it that [people’s access to fresh fruits and vegetables] is somehow considered optional?” Ryder asked in an interview. “We should be able to feed the people around us.”

Illinois was approved for $43 million in federal reimbursement funds for two food programs designed to strengthen statewide food systems, but when the Trump administration took office it informed the stated, without explanation, that the remaining $17.8 million in federal agriculture reimbursements still owed to Illinois would cease after Jan. 19, 2025.

Farmers like Ryder have asked the state to consider new models for subsidizing, planning and regulating agriculture to help them keep Illinoisans fed. Illinois lawmakers are trying to help by pushing two bills through the legislature.

• The first, HB 3701, would reallocate state funds to purchase farm food locally.
• The second, HB 2196, would help poultry farmers sell more of their products directly to consumers.

Both the Illinois General Assembly and Gov. JB Pritzker have shown some reluctance to spend state money on this issue, citing budgetary concerns. But the two bills that soared through the House Agriculture Committee recently both demonstrated dedication to supporting local farmers amid turbulent changes in the federal government.

The first bill, the Good Food Purchasing Law (GFPL), proposed by Rep. Sonya Harper, D-Chicago, would reestablish the Good Food Purchasing Policy Task Force with a new mandate to find between one and three Illinois-run institutions (public colleges, for example) that would begin purchasing from small local farmers like Ryder. Currently such institutions are fiscally obligated to purchase food from the lowest bidder, often larger companies in places outside Illinois that have more agriculture capacity.

“I represent communities on the South Side of Chicago, where healthy access to food has never been guaranteed,” Harper said at a press conference in Springfield earlier this month. “And so this bill addresses issues that I’ve seen firsthand in my district.”

Currently 3 million Illinoisans, roughly 1-in-4, live in food deserts, defined by the USDA as areas with little access to healthy food.

If the bill passes, Illinois would be the first state in the country to promote purchasing locally sourced ethical food within its own state departments. Such programs already exist in 72 institutions across 26 cities, funded through a combination of local and federal dollars, including in Cook County since 2017.

The Good Food Purchasing Law that made it past the House Agriculture Committee is a watered-down version of a more-significant bill that would have required some state agencies to immediately start purchasing local, ethically sourced food. That version was opposed by a number of state departments, including the Department of Agriculture and Department of Corrections.

The House Agriculture Committee voted in favor of the stronger GFPL bill 6-3 on March 18th, along partisan lines, with Republican lawmakers opposing it. The amended version passed unanimously in committee last week on April 8.

However, last week the bill was sent back to the Rules Committee, because it was growing late in this legislative session to push it through. In the bill’s place, Harper put forward HJR 0027, a nonbinding resolution that calls for Illinois departments to implement this measure as soon as practicable. The resolution calls for recreating the Good Food Purchasing Policy Task Force and urges, but does not require, state agencies to investigate their potential for a good food purchasing pilot program.

The other bill deals with poultry. In addition to expanding local farmers’ industry by reallocating state funds to purchase local farm food, legislators hope to loosen rules on self-processed poultry in order to help local farmers sell more of their products directly to consumers. The House Agriculture Committee on April 8 also unanimously passed this second bill, an amendment to the Meat and Poultry Inspection Act (HB 2196), sponsored by Rep. Charles Meier, R-Okawville.

Should the bill become law, self-processed chicken would be available at local farmers markets, both decreasing Illinoisans’ reliance on large chicken growers and opening more of an industry for local farmers.

This bill also raises the annual cap for on-farm poultry processing from 5,000 head to 7,500 head. Most of Illinois’ neighboring states have higher limits, and 40 states have caps of 20,000.

Illinois currently has only four poultry processing facilities, according to farmer Ed Dubrick of DuChick Ranch in Cissna Park in Iroquois County. As locally grown meat grows more popular, Dubrick has to book very far in advance to get processing time slots, which means he’s often not selling his product at its best. Further, the hours-long drives to processing plants can be hard on the animals, says Dubrick.

Larger companies that can afford their own processing facilities don’t face the same burden.

For niche poultry products like quail, Illinois has no poultry processors at all, Dubrick said. Some farmers must drive to the East Coast to process their product, a risky trip for the quails and a financial burden for small farmers, who often benefit from selling niche products.

Harper raised a concern during the Agriculture Committee meeting that it might be best to hold off on loosening poultry regulations until after the current bird flu outbreak subsides. But witnesses testified that they believe this bill wouldn’t increase the risk of flu spreading, and Harper has since been supportive.

The poultry bill passed through the House earlier this month without opposition.

Both HB 3701 and HJR 0027 are still under review by the Pritzker administration, which has yet to take a position on either, according to a statement from the governor’s press secretary, Alex Gough.

HB 3701 still needs to make it through the Senate, where it’s currently waiting to be assigned to a committee for review.

Simon Carr is a student in journalism with Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, and a fellow in its Medill Illinois News Bureau working in partnership with Capitol News Illinois.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.

This article first appeared on Capitol News Illinois and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.