DeKalb County Community Gardens awarded state funds to aid area food insecurity

SYCAMORE – A DeKalb County nonprofit that grows and delivers thousands of pounds of food to area residents each year recently was awarded state funding as part of an effort by Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration to address food insecurity.

DeKalb County Community Gardens is one of 15 locally produced food providers in Illinois that received a portion of a $28.8 million grant package through the Illinois Department of Agriculture and the Illinois Department of Human Services, according to a news release from Pritzker’s office.

Twenty grants were awarded in total.

“Food access is fundamental to healthy and prosperous communities,” Pritzker said in the release. “Thanks to the cooperation and support of the United States Department of Agriculture, the Illinois Eats Program is dispersing nearly $29 million in grant funding to 15 food organizations serving families across our state. Illinois Eats is lifting up both ends of Illinois’ food supply chain, from our farmers to our most food-insecure residents.”

The funding will provide locally sourced food to vulnerable communities for free. It was procured through two cooperative agreements with the USDA, according to the release.

Illinois organizations with partnerships with the Illinois Department of Agriculture and the Illinois Department of Human Services were eligible for the award. Those state agencies partnered with the University of Illinois Extension to examine the needs of different localities while also identifying challenges to reducing hunger in those areas.

“The main gap identified was formal distribution sites with the capacity to aggregate, package, store, process and transport food products to disinvested communities,” officials from the governor’s office wrote. ”In response, grant dollars are being issued to lead agencies to serve as community partners, bridging the gap between farmers and those in need.”

The food banks, nonprofits and farming collectives that received the grant funding will provide food to underserved communities after buying food at fair market value from historically socially disadvantaged growers and producers, according to the release.