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Northern Illinois Food Bank reports ARPA purchases of food, warns of federal commodity pause
Summary
The Northern Illinois Food Bank told the committee it has spent about $1.1 million of a $2.5 million ARPA award to buy nearly 2 million pounds of food for Kane County pantries and warned that a suspended federal commodity program could cut roughly half of expected commodity food this fiscal year.
The Northern Illinois Food Bank told the Kane County Agriculture Committee on March 20 it had spent roughly $1.1 million of a $2.5 million American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) allocation to acquire and distribute nearly 2,000,000 pounds of food to member pantries in Kane County.
Hester Berry, representing the food bank, said the county’s ARPA award is being used over a three‑year period and that the remaining ARPA funds will be used under the agreement by June 2026. She said the purchases are primarily nonperishable staple items and fresh produce — the latter delivered by allocation to 10 agencies that opted in to receive a weekly produce allotment.
Berry warned the committee that a federal program within the emergency food commodity pipeline, known as the CCC account, has been suspended. "That account has accounted for about 50% of the food that we have received this year to date," she said, adding that if the pause continues for the remainder of the fiscal year the food bank will not receive roughly half of the commodity food it expected for that period.
The food bank provided county figures: in fiscal 2024 (fiscal year begins July 1) it distributed almost 12,000,000 meals in Kane County; for the first eight months of the current fiscal year it distributed about 8,800,000 meals. Berry said the food bank has increased its purchased share of distributed food from about 10% before COVID to roughly 25% in recent years and that the shift has stressed fundraising and operating budgets.
Committee members asked about storage and throughput capacity. Berry said the Geneva warehouse turns over roughly 8–9,000,000 pounds of food each month and the bank maintained a multi‑county distribution of roughly 90,000,000 pounds last year across its 13‑county service area.
Berry and committee members flagged three policy risks: potential tariff effects on food prices and exports, cuts to SNAP benefits, and federal commodity program reductions. The food bank asked for continued county support for advocacy to maintain federal programs and SNAP benefits and to share legislative alerts when they appear.
Berry said volunteers remain important and that volunteer numbers have not returned to pre‑COVID levels; the food bank has shifted to more bulk purchases and relies on volunteer packing to make bulk produce cost‑effective.
The committee offered to share legislative and advocacy support and asked the food bank to provide materials the committee could use to track bills and requests for support.
