Celebrate good times, come on!
We are riding high from the energy of the latest Good Food Purchasing Program adoption in Cook County, Illinois—the second largest county in the nation and the first county-wide adoption! Driven by ongoing leadership from the Chicago Food Policy Action Council and coalition partners including the Food Chain Workers Alliance, and support from the Cook County Board Commissioner Chuy Garcia, over $20 million dollars a year will now be accountable to serving up food that reflects our values in Cook County’s public institutions, including its hospital, jail, and juvenile detention center. Check out the coalition celebrating the win.
We are especially excited about the equity-centered approach of this resolution, which focuses on increasing access to land and economic opportunities for women, communities of color, and the formerly incarcerated. A budget is a moral document and how public institutions spend taxpayer money makes a strong statement about our values. We see you, Cook County, and we applaud you.
In the wake of this landmark adoption, Anna and Jose Oliva from Food Chain Workers Alliance published a great piece in The Nation about how purchasing power can be a huge lever for change. We hope you will read the piece and share it with your networks to spread the word about the Good Food Purchasing Program.
We can’t wait to see who will be the next Good Food city, county, or institution!
In solidarity,
Anna, Christina, Tiffani, and Tanya