Full Text of HB1300 95th General Assembly
HB1300enr 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning agriculture.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 |
| Illinois Food, Farms, and Jobs Act. | 6 |
| Section 5. Legislative findings. | 7 |
| Illinois should be the Midwest leader in local and organic | 8 |
| food and fiber production. | 9 |
| One thousand five hundred miles is the average travel | 10 |
| distance for food items now consumed in this State, and | 11 |
| agricultural products sold directly for human consumption | 12 |
| comprise less than 0.2% of Illinois farm sales. | 13 |
| Ninety-five percent of organic food sold in this State is | 14 |
| grown and processed outside of the State, resulting in food | 15 |
| dollars being exported. | 16 |
| Illinois ranks fifth in the nation in loss of farmland. | 17 |
| The market for locally grown foods and for organic food is | 18 |
| expanding rapidly. | 19 |
| Consumers would benefit from additional local food outlets | 20 |
| that make fresh and affordable Illinois grown foods more | 21 |
| accessible in both rural and urban communities. | 22 |
| Communities are experiencing significant problems of | 23 |
| obesity and nutrition, including lack of daily access to fresh |
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| fruits and vegetables. | 2 |
| Low-income communities that are currently "food deserts" | 3 |
| lacking sufficient markets selling fresh fruits and vegetables | 4 |
| would benefit from local food distribution systems. | 5 |
| The State's urban communities are showing renewed interest | 6 |
| in growing food in urban areas. | 7 |
| Rural communities would be revitalized by increasing the | 8 |
| number of families in the State that live on small properties | 9 |
| and by providing fresh high-value local food. | 10 |
| Farmers who wish to transition from conventional | 11 |
| agriculture to local and organic food would benefit from | 12 |
| training and support to diversify their farming operations. | 13 |
| Food consumers, farmers, and entrepreneurs would benefit | 14 |
| from an expanded infrastructure for processing, storing, and | 15 |
| distributing locally grown foods. | 16 |
| The capture of existing food dollars within the State would | 17 |
| help to revitalize the State's treasury by creating a broad | 18 |
| range of new in-state jobs and business opportunities within | 19 |
| both rural and urban communities. | 20 |
| For the purposes of this Act and for the retention of the | 21 |
| greatest benefit from every food dollar spent in this State, | 22 |
| support for local food means capturing in Illinois the greatest | 23 |
| portion of food production, processing, storing, and | 24 |
| distribution possible.
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| Section 10. Illinois Local and Organic Food and Farm Task |
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| Force. The Illinois Local and Organic Food and Farm Task Force | 2 |
| ("the Task Force") shall be appointed by the Governor within 60 | 3 |
| days after the effective date of this Act. The Task Force shall | 4 |
| be convened by the Department of Agriculture and shall include | 5 |
| the following Illinois-based members: | 6 |
| (a) one representative each from the Departments of | 7 |
| Agriculture, Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and Human | 8 |
| Services; | 9 |
| (b) four organic farmers, representing different dairy, | 10 |
| meat, vegetable, and grains sectors; | 11 |
| (c) four specialty crop producers, representing different | 12 |
| flower, fruit, viticulture, aquaculture, fiber, vegetable, and | 13 |
| ornamental sectors; | 14 |
| (d) two organic processors; | 15 |
| (e) one organic distributor and one non-organic | 16 |
| distributor; | 17 |
| (f) three representatives of not-for-profit educational | 18 |
| organizations; | 19 |
| (g) one organic certifier; | 20 |
| (h) one consumer representative; | 21 |
| (i) two representatives of farm organizations; | 22 |
| (j) one university agricultural specialist; | 23 |
| (k) one philanthropic organization representative; | 24 |
| (l) one food retailer representative; | 25 |
| (m) two municipal representatives from different | 26 |
| communities in the State; |
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| (n) four representatives from community-based | 2 |
| organizations focusing on food access,
to include at least 3 | 3 |
| minority members; and | 4 |
| (o) one chef specializing in the preparation of locally | 5 |
| grown organic foods. | 6 |
| All members of the Task Force shall be appointed for a | 7 |
| 2-year term.
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| Section 15. Illinois Local and Organic Food and Farm Plan. | 9 |
| The Task Force shall develop a plan containing policy and | 10 |
| funding recommendations for expanding and supporting a State | 11 |
| local and organic food system and for assessing and overcoming | 12 |
| obstacles to an increase in locally grown food and local | 13 |
| organic food production. The Task Force shall prepare and | 14 |
| submit its plan in a report to the General Assembly by | 15 |
| September 30, 2008, for consideration of its recommendations in | 16 |
| the 96th General Assembly. The Plan, among other matters, | 17 |
| shall: | 18 |
| (a) identify land preservation and acquisition | 19 |
| opportunities for local and organic
agriculture in rural, | 20 |
| suburban, and urban areas; | 21 |
| (b) identify farmer training and development, as | 22 |
| necessary, by expanding training programs
such as Farm | 23 |
| Beginnings, incubator projects such as Prairie Crossing Farm, | 24 |
| urban agriculture training programs, farmer-to-farmer learning | 25 |
| opportunities, or other programs; |
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| (c) identify financial incentives, technical support, and | 2 |
| training necessary to help Illinois
farmers to transition to | 3 |
| local, organic, and specialty crop production by minimizing | 4 |
| their financial losses during the 3-year transition period | 5 |
| required under USDA standards and to help with recordkeeping | 6 |
| requirements; | 7 |
| (d) identify strategies and funding needs to make fresh and | 8 |
| affordable Illinois-grown foods
more accessible, both in rural | 9 |
| and urban communities, with an emphasis on creating new food | 10 |
| outlets in communities that need them; | 11 |
| (e) identify the financial and technical support necessary | 12 |
| to build connections between
landowners, farmers, buyers, and | 13 |
| consumers;
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| (f) identify the financial and technical support necessary | 15 |
| to build a local food infrastructure
of processing, storage, | 16 |
| and distribution; | 17 |
| (g) identify the financial and technical support necessary | 18 |
| to develop new food and
agriculture-related businesses for | 19 |
| local food and organic food production and distribution, such | 20 |
| as on-farm processing, micro-markets, incubator kitchens, and | 21 |
| marketing and communications businesses; | 22 |
| (h) identify the financial and technical support necessary | 23 |
| to expand the development of
farmers markets, roadside markets, | 24 |
| and local grocery stores in unserved and underserved areas, as | 25 |
| well as the creation of year-round public markets in Chicago | 26 |
| and other large communities; |
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| (i) research, identify, and coordinate best practices and | 2 |
| opportunities for the development
of local food and organic | 3 |
| food production; | 4 |
| (j) identify opportunities to educate the public and | 5 |
| producers about the benefits of local
foods systems and about | 6 |
| the development opportunities provided through this Act; and | 7 |
| (k) identify legal impediments to local food and organic | 8 |
| food production, and develop
recommendations for a remedy.
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 10 |
| becoming law.
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