From the Kankakee Daily Journal Illinois: Law supports farmers market boom Story The Daily Journal/Tiffany Blanchette Marty Gray, of Watseka, bags kale Saturday, June 7, at the Kankakee Farmers Market. Gray and his wife, Cryatal, have been growing produce to sell at markets for six years. Posted: Tuesday, June 24, 2014 8:39 am Robert Themer rthemer@daily-journal 815-937-3369 | 0 comments Gov. Pat Quinn has signed into law a farmers market measure that is the result of a six-year campaign to support the booming local foods movement in Illinois. The measure, first introduced in 2009, was passed unanimously by the Illinois General Assembly last month. It was sponsored by Rep. Mike Tryon, of Crystal Lake, and Sen. David Koehler, of Peoria. It will: • Require farmers market produce sellers to have small signs, labels or packing slips that provide the address where the produce was grown or purchased for resale. The requirement is intended to bolster local food production; • Allow marketers to offer samples of produce and other food items and create consistent statewide regulations for the practice. Regulations vary greatly from place to place and consequently, few farmer market vendors offer samples, which are important to making sales, said Wes King, executive director of the Illinois Stewardship Alliance, a statewide local food organization that backed the legislation. • Limit to $25 per year the fees that local health departments can charge to register the increasing numbers of cottage food operators who offer foods prepared in their home kitchens. The new law is a really important step when it comes to supporting farmers markets and community development, and a long time coming, King stated in a release announcing that Quinn signed the legislation into law at Chicagos 61st Street Farmers Market on Saturday. Active members of the local food movement have been working for the reforms for several years, King stated. These reforms will help to support and sustain new and current farmers markets, the jobs they create, the business they incubate and the farmers, young and old, that call them home. The new law gives the Illinois Department of Public Healths Farmers Market Task Force to until Dec. 15 to create recommendations for consistent food safety regulations for the markets. Tremendous growth Local farmers markets have grown tremendously in the last 20 years — from 1,744 nationwide 20 years ago to 8,144 last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. With a 15 percent increase to 336 markets known to the USDA last year, Illinois jumped to third among states behind California with 759 and New York with 637. With 292 markets in 2012, Illinois was sixth. When the Kankakee County Farmers Market opened 16 years ago in Kankakee, it was unique among communities in The Daily Journal circulation area. Since then, many other communities in the region have sponsored markets. The number of local specialty growers, livestock producers and cottage food providers also has increased markedly. Many of the growers also offer sales at their farm sites. Some have started community supported agriculture operations in which buyers subscribe for a season of regular deliveries of local produce or meat and eggs. Some are selling their produce through local supermarkets and smaller groceries. Marketing education The Stewardship Alliance is developing educational materials to inform farmers, farmers market managers and the public regarding the impacts and changes set in-motion by the new law. The alliance and the Illinois Farmers Market Association will offer webinars about the new law later in the summer, King announced. For more information about the alliances policy and legislation, visit ilstewards.org or its facebook page facebook/ilstewards and twitter @ILStewards.
Posted on: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 21:38:38 +0000
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