Food Access

How an urban farm is healing history and feeding ChicagoIn the heart of Chicago’s Fuller Park, a quiet revolution has taken root. Eden Place Farms stands as a sanctuary against the city’s enduring food desert — a growing testament to how vision, grit,...

Every Tuesday, Tony Stirling of Valley Fresh Harvest hauls 150 pounds of lettuce from his hydroponic operation in Ladd to the Down at the Farms warehouse near Fairbury. Down at the Farms coordinates its sale...

The journey home for some military veterans isn’t without its own battles. The Joseph Center in East St. Louis fills the gap, providing transitional housing and supportive services for nearly 125 veterans each year. Now, the center has a new...

As a child, Stacy Jones stood in line at a food pantry with her grandmother.“I know what it’s like to be hungry and to have to ask for food,” she says. Now she’s ensuring the people standing in the Collinsville Food Pantry line are treated with...

The families picking up food at the Two Rivers Head Start Agency food pantry in Aurora Friday morning were diverse in all ways except one; none expected to be where they find themselves today, needing assistance to feed their family. Luke, 44, whose wife...

Delia Jackson is a fan of agriculture. The COVID-19 pandemic showed her just how important and resilient the ag industry is and how vital it is for youth to be involved.Delia, an animal science grad, was a meat and poultry inspector for state and federal plants in Illinois during the pandemic....

Max Allbritten lives in the home his grandparents built in the 60s, less than a thousand feet across the road from his childhood home and where his parents live today. In the six years since his father’s retirement from farming, the barns and equipment have slipped into disrepair. Max was...

Rooted For Good is the glue that binds together the many helping organizations in DeKalb County. When the Local Food Purchase Assistance program was announced, the group’s leadership knew...

A class project changed how Clint Bland looks at food.As part of an ecology course, Clint tried to find a more sustainable way of living by eating only locally grown food for a month.He couldn’t. With summer over, he couldn’t rely on local foods from farmers markets or home gardens. As he read the...

Sawyer and Abbie Cottrell are like many young ranchers. They want to give their sons and daughter a childhood that’s meaningful and that will live beyond themselves.The Cottrell homestead sits at the end of a long gravel driveway just miles down the road from Eureka High School where Sawyer teaches...