SR1257 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR1257 LRB098 21613 GRL 60407 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Feeding Illinois, the State association of 8 food banks serving all 102 counties, has found that more than 1.8 million of our 12.9 million citizens are "food insecure", meaning that 14.2% of our families, neighbors, and colleagues lack adequate access to the sustenance needed for a healthy and productive life; and

WHEREAS, Washington Post reporter Eli Saslow won a 2014 Pulitzer Prize for a series of articles about food insecurity which he described as "a lasting scar" of the 2008 economic collapse; and

WHEREAS, The number of Illinois citizens participating in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (formerly the Food Stamp Program) has increased 40.7% between January of 2009 and January of 2014; and

WHEREAS, The federal government responded to changing public interest by modifying SNAP to enable program recipients to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables at farmers markets and farm stands; and

WHEREAS, SNAP is one of 16 federal feeding programs spending approximately $4 billion a year in Illinois; and

WHEREAS, On May 5, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson's aide, Sargent Shriver, proposed that the "War on Poverty" incorporate a grassroots component based on this observation: "Wherever local communities have started programs to help the poor help themselves, the response has exceeded all expectations"; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois Commission on the Eradication of Poverty, created by statute in 2008, produced a strategic plan that affirms Sargent Shriver's proposal by asserting: "...the best solutions for poverty (oftentimes) come from local innovation"; and

WHEREAS, Illinois schools provide subsidized meals for one of every 5 Illinois children because they come from families that exceed federal poverty guidelines; and

WHEREAS, Local food, nutrition, and agriculture plans at the municipal and rural township level could provide structure to support projects designed to help end hunger and poverty in urban, suburban, exurban, and rural communities throughout Illinois; and

WHEREAS, At least 6 Governors' councils and commissions possess unique expertise and functions that, if aligned through a collaborative process, could result in the improved delivery of public and private resources for the benefit of community-based initiatives to help end hunger and reduce poverty in Illinois; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois Commission to End Hunger, created by statute in 2010, is exploring how to encourage partnerships between the State's 2,000-plus food pantries and its 375-plus farmers' markets; and

WHEREAS, The Greater Chicago Food Depository is partnering with Heartland Alliance on an urban agriculture pilot project, Chicago FarmWorks, to create transitional jobs for hard-to-employ people on a 2.6-acre vegetable farm in the West Side Chicago community of East Garfield Park; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois Local Food, Farms, and Jobs Council, created by statute in 2009, is working to facilitate action supporting the growth of local food and farm economies from Chicago to Cairo; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service, created by statute, is discovering that community-based local food projects could be a pathway to build a statewide "volunteer infrastructure"; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois Task Force on Social Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Enterprise, created by Executive Order 11-05, has a set of charges that include the attraction of funds "to accelerate progress on social issues, work cross-sector, and advance social and economic development goals"; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois Business Development Council, created by statute in 2013, will enact an annual State business plan based on input from such sources as "State and local business development and marketing efforts focusing on areas of high unemployment or poverty"; and

WHEREAS, Collaboration between these 6 State entities could accelerate development of community-based food, nutrition, and agricultural initiatives that contribute to broader efforts to end hunger and reduce poverty in Illinois; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the Governor to design and execute a strategy to align the unique expertise and functions of the Illinois Commission to End Hunger, the Illinois Commission on the Eradication of Poverty, the Illinois Local Food, Farms, and Jobs Council, the Illinois Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service, the Illinois Task Force of Social Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Enterprise, and the Illinois Business Development Council in an ongoing program to embolden and empower communities to advance low-cost and high-return strategies to help end hunger and poverty; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be delivered to the Governor.