County hears Illinois Eats update; local food hubs and a federal funding gap create uncertainty for area farmers and pantries

Kane County staff and partner organizations updated the board on Illinois Eats, a federal grant-driven program run statewide through lead agencies that purchased Illinois-grown food for distribution to food pantries. County staff reported that the program delivered about $550,000 in product to sites that serve Kane County and that four Kane County farms sold product into the program and received about $364,000 in payments.

The program: Matt Tansley, a county staff member, said Illinois Eats was created to use USDA grant funding to buy food produced in Illinois and distribute it through service organizations and food pantries. He said the statewide program initially allocated about $28.8 million and that lead agencies could apply for awards ranging from $150,000 up to $2.5 million. Tansley said, as presented, the program engaged roughly 76 farms and distributed product to sites across 85 counties; within Kane County, 31 sites received product.

Local impact and uncertainty: Tansley told the board that the value of food distributed that served Kane County was about $550,000 and that four Kane County farms (Mighty Greens, Clients Quality Produce, Batteracres and Sunny Oaks Farm) together received approximately $364,000. He said the statewide pot originally included $28.8 million and that, at the time of his update, roughly $12 million remained available for purchase; however, he said future funding beyond June was uncertain and that some contract activity at the state level had been terminated.

Rooted for Good and a planned food hub: Heather Edwards, executive director of Rooted for Good (formerly DeKalb County Community Gardens), told the board the group is planning a regional food hub on an eight-acre site on Annie Glidden Road north of Northern Illinois University. Edwards said the total project cost is estimated near $10 million, with a Phase 1 fundraising target of about $3 million and possible groundbreaking in 2026 depending on funding. She said Rooted for Good had purchased wholesale product for pantries during the Illinois Eats project but that current funding available to the organization is far smaller than what the grant supplied.

Local food bank numbers and summer outreach: A county food-program staff member identified as Esther said the county's network serves about 70,000 individuals per month through roughly 25 pantries and direct-distribution programs (backpack program, senior program, mobile markets and an online pantry). Esther said those programs provided about 12,000,000 meals in Kane County during the prior year. Esther told the board she expects food-pantry demand to rise if inflation continues and if SNAP benefits are reduced, and she said county partners are undertaking outreach to encourage families to apply for the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (Summer EBT) program (the presenter said the benefit is approximately $40 per eligible child per month for up to three months).

Examples from the field: Tansley described a tour of program partners, including a visit to Sunny Oaks Farm and the Salem Food Pantry. Tansley highlighted Sunny Oaks owner Mei Xiao's transition from architect to mushroom farmer and said the Illinois Eats purchases were an important revenue stream for that operation, particularly after a fire damaged production infrastructure.

Next steps and concerns: Board members pressed on sustainability. Heather Edwards said Rooted for Good has some remaining funds but will not be able to replicate the scale of purchasing the Illinois Eats grant enabled; she also described the state-level contract termination and said there may be legal efforts related to that termination. Board members and staff discussed whether public-private partnerships or local food-hub models could help sustain the sourcing and distribution network if federal funding is not renewed.