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SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Feeding Illinois, the State association of 8 food
3banks serving all 102 counties, has found that more than 1.8
4million of our 12.9 million citizens are "food insecure",
5meaning that 14.2% of our families, neighbors, and colleagues
6lack adequate access to the sustenance needed for a healthy and
7productive life; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Washington Post reporter Eli Saslow won a 2014
9Pulitzer Prize for a series of articles about food insecurity
10which he described as "a lasting scar" of the 2008 economic
11collapse; and
 
12    WHEREAS, The number of Illinois citizens participating in
13the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
14(formerly the Food Stamp Program) has increased 40.7% between
15January of 2009 and January of 2014; and
 
16    WHEREAS, The federal government responded to changing
17public interest by modifying SNAP to enable program recipients
18to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables at farmers markets and
19farm stands; and
 
20    WHEREAS, SNAP is one of 16 federal feeding programs
21spending approximately $4 billion a year in Illinois; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, On May 5, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson's
2aide, Sargent Shriver, proposed that the "War on Poverty"
3incorporate a grassroots component based on this observation:
4"Wherever local communities have started programs to help the
5poor help themselves, the response has exceeded all
6expectations"; and
 
7    WHEREAS, The Illinois Commission on the Eradication of
8Poverty, created by statute in 2008, produced a strategic plan
9that affirms Sargent Shriver's proposal by asserting: "...the
10best solutions for poverty (oftentimes) come from local
11innovation"; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Illinois schools provide subsidized meals for one
13of every 5 Illinois children because they come from families
14that exceed federal poverty guidelines; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Local food, nutrition, and agriculture plans at
16the municipal and rural township level could provide structure
17to support projects designed to help end hunger and poverty in
18urban, suburban, exurban, and rural communities throughout
19Illinois; and
 
20    WHEREAS, At least 6 Governors' councils and commissions
21possess unique expertise and functions that, if aligned through

 

 

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1a collaborative process, could result in the improved delivery
2of public and private resources for the benefit of
3community-based initiatives to help end hunger and reduce
4poverty in Illinois; and
 
5    WHEREAS, The Illinois Commission to End Hunger, created by
6statute in 2010, is exploring how to encourage partnerships
7between the State's 2,000-plus food pantries and its 375-plus
8farmers' markets; and
 
9    WHEREAS, The Greater Chicago Food Depository is partnering
10with Heartland Alliance on an urban agriculture pilot project,
11Chicago FarmWorks, to create transitional jobs for
12hard-to-employ people on a 2.6-acre vegetable farm in the West
13Side Chicago community of East Garfield Park; and
 
14    WHEREAS, The Illinois Local Food, Farms, and Jobs Council,
15created by statute in 2009, is working to facilitate action
16supporting the growth of local food and farm economies from
17Chicago to Cairo; and
 
18    WHEREAS, The Illinois Commission on Volunteerism and
19Community Service, created by statute, is discovering that
20community-based local food projects could be a pathway to build
21a statewide "volunteer infrastructure"; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, The Illinois Task Force on Social Innovation,
2Entrepreneurship, and Enterprise, created by Executive Order
311-05, has a set of charges that include the attraction of
4funds "to accelerate progress on social issues, work
5cross-sector, and advance social and economic development
6goals"; and
 
7    WHEREAS, The Illinois Business Development Council,
8created by statute in 2013, will enact an annual State business
9plan based on input from such sources as "State and local
10business development and marketing efforts focusing on areas of
11high unemployment or poverty"; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Collaboration between these 6 State entities
13could accelerate development of community-based food,
14nutrition, and agricultural initiatives that contribute to
15broader efforts to end hunger and reduce poverty in Illinois;
16therefore, be it
 
17    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL
18ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the Governor to
19design and execute a strategy to align the unique expertise and
20functions of the Illinois Commission to End Hunger, the
21Illinois Commission on the Eradication of Poverty, the Illinois
22Local Food, Farms, and Jobs Council, the Illinois Commission on
23Volunteerism and Community Service, the Illinois Task Force of

 

 

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1Social Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Enterprise, and the
2Illinois Business Development Council in an ongoing program to
3embolden and empower communities to advance low-cost and
4high-return strategies to help end hunger and poverty; and be
5it further
 
6    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
7delivered to the Governor.