CARTERVILLE, Ill. – Hunger is often hidden, but it is a huge issue in southern Illinois. According to Feeding America's Map the Meal Gap, more than 45,000 southern Illinoisans struggle with having enough food to eat. That's nearly 15% of local residents. During the fourth annual Southern Illinois Food Security Summit, community partners came together to collaborate, learn, and prioritize healthy food access initiatives for southern Illinoisans.
Trevor Johnson, MPH, nutrition initiatives program manager for Illinois Public Health Institute, served as the keynote speaker. He shared the foundation of Food is Medicine and how organizations can engage with FIM programs. The rest of the summit was filled with short-dynamic lightning talks about WIC and special nutrition programs, food donation gardens, Herrin House of Hope, healthier food pantries, and how to take advantage of a mini-grant opportunity.
University of Illinois Extension SNAP-Education team members led a nutrition education and cooking demonstration where they showed how they engage learners through a variety of hands-on classes and activities. By collaborating with numerous organizations to promote healthier spaces, they strive to make the healthier choice the easier choice for local children and families.
The non-profit organization Food Works had their recently launched mobile farmers market on display during the Summit. The truck is a farmer's market on wheels that allows communities of all income levels to get access to foods like fresh produce, local meat, dairy, and baked goods. The market utilizes locally-grown produce and small-batch goods from over 25 farms located within a 100-mile radius of their home base of Carbondale.
Hunger is often hidden, but it is a huge issue in southern Illinois. According to Feeding America's Map the Meal Gap, more than 45,000 southern Illinoisans struggle with having enough food to eat. That's nearly 15% of local residents. SNAP-Ed Extension Educator Toni Kay Wright, one of the event organizers, said that addressing food insecurity is a team
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effort. Wright was excited to see the numerous organizations and agencies come together with one goal.
"The people here recognize that we have an issue with food access and food insecurity in our communities, and I'm hoping that people leave here re-energized and re-invigorated to support food access projects," said Wright.
To learn how to get involved with food security initiatives in the region, contact Toni Kay Wright at tkwright@illinois.edu or (618) 993-3304.
University of Illinois Extension develops educational programs, extends knowledge, and builds partnerships to support people, communities, and their environments as part of the state's land-grant institution. Extension serves as the leading public outreach effort for University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences in all 102 Illinois counties through a network of 27 multi-county units and over 700 staff statewide. Extension’s mission is responsive to eight strategic priorities — community, economy, environment, food and agriculture, health, partnerships, technology and discovery, and workforce excellence — that are served through six program areas — 4-H youth development, agriculture and agribusiness, community and economic development, family and consumer science, integrated health disparities, and natural resources, environment, and energy.