SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS) — Illinois will spend over $3.5 million to local food organizations in the state’s latest attempt to bolster local food infrastructure.
The grants from the Department of Agriculture are part of a three-year-old program aimed at making it easier for local farmers to process and distribute food locally. In total, 61 organizations received grants, 16 of them in Cook County and the other 45 distributed among 34 other counties.
“These awards will help farmers, food businesses, and community partners expand their capacity and reach new markets,” Illinois Department of Agriculture Director Jerry Costello II said in a statement. “When we invest in local food infrastructure, we are creating economic opportunity for businesses while ensuring Illinois residents have greater access to fresh, locally grown foods.”
Projects include collaborations
The latest distribution covers two fiscal years, 2025 and 2026. This round of projects ranged from a $1,424 grant for air conditioning improvements to a $205,000 collaboration to enhance growing and distribution capacity of six community-based farms on Chicago’s South and West sides.
The latter is a partnership between the Chicago Food Policy Action Council and NeighborSpace, a nonprofit urban land trust in Chicago.
In one of two Shelby County projects, Triple S Farms plans to construct an air-chilled mobile poultry processing unit that can be towed to small farms in the region to allow small farmers to process, chill, fabricate, package and freeze their own poultry. That machine would have a capacity of 300 to 400 chickens per day.
Outside of Cook, Kane and Union counties received the highest number of projects with four each.
In Union County, three projects pertain to cold storage, while Alto Vineyards plans to transition to stainless steel tanks to improve durability, efficiency, and safe fermentation and storage processes.
To date, the state has allocated over $5 million to local food grants since the program’s launch. Another $2 million was included in the current-year budget, according to the Department of Agriculture.
Grant program details
The program offers grants of up to $75,000 for an individual project and up to $250,000 for collaborative projects.
To be eligible, applicants must meet administrative program rules, and must be an Illinois entity with fewer than 50 employees involved in the production, processing, or distribution of agricultural products.
Recipients are expected to match 25% of their award with a comparable investment unless the project is classified as “high need,” meaning that it fills a critical infrastructure gap or serves underserved farmers and communities.
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