State Rep. Sonya Harper, D-Chicago, is celebrating the award of more than $3.5 million through the Illinois Local Food Infrastructure Grant Program, an initiative she championed in the General Assembly to strengthen Illinois’ local food supply chain and help more Illinois-grown food reach Illinois families.
The latest round will support 61 organizations across 35 counties, including 16 recipients in Cook County. Projects will expand food production, processing, refrigeration, storage, packaging and distribution capacity for small farms, food businesses and community organizations.
“This is what it looks like when legislation moves from paper to real progress,” Harper said. “We passed the Local Food Infrastructure Grant Act because small farmers and food entrepreneurs repeatedly told us that they could grow the food, but lacked the equipment, storage, processing capacity and transportation needed to reach more customers. Today, those farmers and communities are seeing the results.”
Harper served as the House chief sponsor of Senate Bill 3077, which established the Local Food Infrastructure Grant Program within the Illinois Department of Agriculture. Since the law’s passage, Harper has continued advocating for appropriations, accountable implementation and equitable access for small and historically underserved producers.
The newest projects range from improvements to individual food businesses to a $205,000 collaboration between the Chicago Food Policy Action Council and NeighborSpace that will strengthen growing and distribution capacity for six community-based farms on Chicago’s South and West sides.
“My lifelong work has been rooted in a simple belief: every community deserves access to fresh, healthy and affordable food, and the people who grow that food deserve the infrastructure and markets needed to build sustainable businesses,” Harper said. “These grants connect those goals. They support farmers, create economic opportunity and help keep more Illinois-grown food in Illinois communities.”
Illinois imports approximately 95% of the food consumed in the state. The Local Food Infrastructure Grant Program addresses that imbalance by supporting equipment and facilities such as refrigerated vehicles, community kitchens, food hubs, cold storage, milling operations and meat and poultry processing.
More than $5 million has now been allocated through the program since its launch, with additional funding included in the current state budget.
“I am proud of what we have accomplished, but this is not the finish line,” Harper said. “I will continue working with farmers, advocates, legislators and the Department of Agriculture to ensure these investments are distributed fairly, implemented effectively and sustained for the future. Illinois should be a place where Illinois farmers can feed Illinois families.”
Harper chairs the Illinois House Agriculture and Conservation Committee. She is the first Black person to chair the committee and the first Black woman in the nation to chair a state House agriculture committee. Improving food access and creating local healthy food infrastructure have become a major focus of the committee under her distinct leadership.
