Illinois Poised to Pass Local Food Law
JULY 14, 2007 - The house and senate of Illinois have passed an innovative act supporting local organic food and small farms throughout the state, and last week they gave it to the Governor to sign. While this is not iron-clad, the act breezed through both legislative bodies, and the Governor's spokesperson told a family-farm conference that he would approve it.
"Even California is looking at it with interest," says Carrie Edgar, a county director of extension for the University of Illinois in Quincy. "I don't believe there is anything like it in the country."
Proponents of the Food, Farms and Jobs Act pointed out that 95 percent of the $500 million spent on organic food annually in Illinois goes to out-of-state producers, and they would like to keep profit closer to home. Farmers markets have been gaining in popularity in recent years, and in fact there is more demand than supply, Edgar says. "Illinois is one of those states where what is grown on the farms, people can't actually eat." We're talking corn and soy -- not varieties destined for summer barbecues or Asian stir-fries, but ethanol or processed-food manufacture. It reminds us of the old saying, water, water, everywhere, and not a drop to drink. Fortunately, it looks like there is a sea change coming. -ADS
