SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — How to best aggregate the growing demand for locally produced food across Illinois is one the key goals identified by a new group that conducted its third meeting at the state fairgrounds last week.

The new 35-member Illinois Local Food, Farms, and Jobs Council was formed by state law in March 2010, in part to help further develop statewide networks of food producers to provide regional areas with fresh fruits, vegetables and other products raised on Illinois soil.

Another key goal of the council is to help the state’s institutions such as schools, prisons and other state facilities buy at least 20 percent of its consumed food products from local Illinois or regional growers by the year 2010. When Gov. Pat Quinn signed the law establishing the new council in August 2009, research showed fewer than 4 percent of the vegetables, fruits and meats consumed by all Illinoisans came from in-state providers. It is a nearly $50 billion-a-year economy.

The local food movement has been growing throughout the United States; 30 states now have laws allowing for the establishment of food councils. “The depth of the demand (for local food products) that’s taking root is much greater than what meets the eye,” said Bob Heuer, secretary of the new council.

Heuer said it agreed to form three new task forces, each charged with examining the group’s strategic plan; helping institutions meet its 20 percent goal by 2020; and existing and suggested policy regarding local food networks.

Cynthia Haskins, the business development and compliance manager with Illinois Farm Bureau, said market forces are helping move buyers – large and small – toward the formation of food hubs. 

One of the council’s directives is to help form those hubs, she said.

“The good news is there is a growing interest in local food, and the concept of food hubs can be exciting, but there’s work yet to be done,” she said. “If we talk about scale, let’s think of it in terms of large growers and producers, as well as smaller ones.”

Haskins and Heuer both noted numerous groups and agencies, including Farm Bureaus, have interests in growing a local food economy and have made progress “independently.” Cook County is now looking at establishing a food council; Chicago Public Schools, four years ago, spent just $10,000 a year on produce grown in the Midwest and this year is spending $1 million, according to the Food Fair Network; and more universities are starting to use more locally produced food in dorms.

Chef Bill Connors took over the university housing food program in 1995 and has exceeded his own goal of 20 percent local food use; it was roughly 28 percent last year and he’s shooting now for a 40 percent rate. Connors is a member of the new council.

“Illinois is one of the biggest agricultural states in the nation, but most of the food we eat is imported,” he said when he was appointed. “We spend billions of dollars on food from other states or countries. We want to promote Illinois foods and farms and bring jobs to the state. This council is going to work to do that.”

The council’s new website is www.foodfarmsjobs.org and its next meeting is set for Dec. 7 in Springfield.

The council’s mandate, as spelled out in state law, is: “To facilitate the growth of an Illinois-based local farm and food product economy that revitalizes rural and urban communities, promotes healthy eating with access to fresh foods, creates jobs, ensures a readily available supply of safe food in an emergency event and supports economic growth through making local farm or food products available to all Illinois citizens.”