Illinois Cooperative Development Center

New local food collaboration!

Buy Fresh, Buy Local, Byline Announcing a new collaboration with the Illinois farm and food directory

Research: Migration Key to Rural Economic Development - The Daily Yonder The days of small towns landing a big company are in the past. Amazon didn’t look at Yuba, Wisconsin, or Baxley, Georgia, for its newest headquarters. So

Grand Avenue Market: A 20-Year Quest to Re-establish a Local Grocery Store in Rural Kansas | IFF The opening of the Grand Avenue Market, the first full-service grocery store in the community in 20 years. With the support of the Kansas Healthy Food Initiative (KHFI), a group of community residents developed the grocery store with the understanding that the rural community needed one to remain vi...

USDA: SNAP Benefits Boost Rural Economies, Save Jobs - The Daily Yonder More than just providing rural families with food during financially tough times, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funds save rural jobs and

USDA Project to Study How Midwest Ag Can be More Diverse Beyond Corn, Soybean Rotations - 95.3 MNC Two Iowa State University researchers will join a five-year $10 million project funded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture that seeks to make Midwestern agriculture more resilient by moving away from the dominant corn-soybean rotation. “Growing only a rotation of corn and soybea...

It all started with a bushel of tomatoes.

I know what you’re thinking. Around here, tomatoes aren’t necessarily anything special. They’re in every garden I’ve ever seen. Yet somehow that 50 pound, broken, wiry, tomato filled bushel basket became one of the most special pieces of our year.

That basket connected us with Feeding Illinois, our state branch of Feeding America. Feeding America is the largest hunger relief organization in the United States.

For the past few months we’ve been working with Steve Ericson, Executive Director of Feeding Illinois, and his amazing team to design and implement the first ever Farm to Food Bank Food Plot.

Our family has set aside 2 acres for specialty crop production, partnering with Feeding Illinois and the Eastern Illinois Food Bank to specifically grow anything and everything our 2 acres can hold for the food banks.

Instead of getting “seconds” or “2s”, the food bank will get the best of the best, the whole garden, and we’re growing it right here on our farm in Benson.

As you can imagine, a lot goes into a project like this. We will be looking for volunteers to help with harvesting the produce, pulling weeds, watering, and so much more. We will need financial support as we raise the needed funds for irrigation, plastic, cold storage, plants, seed starts, cages, etc.

We are very thankful for the initial and continuing support of the Illinois Specialty Growers Association, Illinois Farm Bureau,Woodford County Farm Bureau, Mike Huschen - COUNTRY Financial, and of course Feeding Illinois.

Stay tuned for many updates on how you can help support this project.

We got this.

Starting this Sunday!

Do you play a role in the local food system and have an interest in learning innovative marketing strategies? Register now to attend the 2021 National Ag Marketing Summit in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas. Individuals may attend the event in-person or online October 17 – 19, and IFB members can apply for sponsored conference tickets to help cover costs. Visit www.ilfb.org/LiveLocal for details.

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Small Business Assistance As part of Governor JB Pritzker’s overall economic recovery strategy, the $250 million Back to Business (B2B) grant program aims to deploy small businesses recovery grants for those hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic. The B2B grant program builds on the success of last year's Business Interrup...

Have you heard? Link Card users can double their dollars on healthy, eligible foods at Market on the Hill!

You'll receive up to a $25 dollar-for-dollar voucher each time you swipe your card! You can use these vouchers on fresh, local fruits & veggies!

Now you can provide even more fresh, healthy food for your family!