Local Farms and Food Businesses Receive Nearly $700,000 in Grants to Help Make Metro Chicago Food System More Equitable
The Chicago Food Policy Action Council (CFPAC), in partnership with the Cook County Department of Public Health (CCDPH), is proud to announce the awardees of the third annual Metro Chicago Good Food Purchasing Initiative (GFPI) Community Fund. This year, nearly $700,000 in grant funding, along with tailored technical assistance, is being awarded to 15 local farms and food businesses working to advance equity, strengthen local economies, and increase access to healthy, sustainably produced food across the Metro Chicago region.
Selected from a highly competitive pool of more than 100 applicants, these farmers and food entrepreneurs are based within 250 miles of Chicago and represent the diversity, innovation, and commitment that power our regional food system. Grant awards range from $40,000 to $80,000, supporting projects that uplift sustainable practices, fair labor standards, humane animal treatment, and community-centered food access. Seven of the awardees are based in suburban Cook County.
With support from Cook County Government through American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, along with generous contributions from The Rockefeller Foundation and Builders Initiative, the GFPI Community Fund continues to invest in those who have historically faced structural barriers to funding and institutional market access. CCDPH awarded $300,000 in ARPA funds specifically to support suburban Cook County-based awardees.
“Local leadership matters now more than ever. Cook County is showing what’s possible when local governments partner with community organizations and philanthropy on food and health.” said Dr. Kiran Joshi, Chief Operating Officer at Cook County Department of Public Health. “Local leadership matters now more than ever. Cook County is showing what’s possible when local governments lead boldly on food and health.”
Awardees will also receive technical assistance to help increase the availability of food aligned with the Good Food Purchasing Program (GFPP) and to support partnerships with public and private institutions such as schools, health care systems, senior living centers, food pantries, and other community meal sites.
“For three consecutive years, our commitment to local farmers and food business owners has been about more than just funding. It’s about building a stronger, more resilient food future for Metro Chicago,” said Kaitlyn Poindexter, GFPI Community Fund Program Manager at CFPAC. “We’re investing in those who grow and produce our food to ensure everyone in our community has access to good, fresh, high-quality options.”
CFPAC envisions a food system where public institutions help build collective power among those historically excluded from control over food production and access. A core way this vision comes to life is through the GFPI Team, which works to ensure that institutions purchasing food do so in ways that are accessible, equitable, racially just, healthy, fair, local, humane, and sustainable.
The Metro Chicago GFPI Community Fund builds on Cook County’s 2018 resolution in support of the GFPP, a nationally recognized, metric-based procurement framework designed to create a more just and sustainable food system. In partnership with CFPAC, CCDPH is charged with implementing GFPP across Cook County institutions, including Cook County Health, Cook County Jail, and the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center.
“Advancing good food is not just about food,” said Amy O’Rourke, CCDPH Director of Chronic Disease Prevention and Control. “It’s about building community resilience, creating economic opportunity, protecting workers, reducing waste, and ensuring healthier meals for the people we serve in Cook County.”
The grants support a wide range of projects, from expanding food hubs and developing new institutional partnerships to investing in infrastructure that increases production and distribution capacity. Together, these efforts move the Community Fund beyond a transactional model toward one rooted in long-term relationships, collaboration, and community building across the Metro Chicago food system.
We are honored to support this incredible cohort of farmers and food businesses who are helping to shape a more equitable, resilient, and community-rooted food system for Metro Chicago.
2025 Community Fund Awardees
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Otter Oaks Farm is a sustainable, regenerative urban farm located in Woodstock, IL with the vision to establish a harmonious environment where individuals can embrace a sustainable way of life. Their project is focused on securing the needed certifications and infrastructure to be able to supply food to pantries, hospitals, schools, restaurants and residents. Additionally, they will focus on growing their partnerships with community meal sites, institutions, and other local farms and food businesses.
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Laos To Your House, Inc is a WMBE-certified food manufacturer and catering company based in East Garfield Park that produces consumer packaged meals with the mission to introduce Chicagoans to Laotian cuisine while also enjoying balanced, nutritious meals. Their project is focused on securing a pilot with the goal of securing a partnership with a school, government agency, and/or senior center. They also plan to increase their local sourcing, expand their connections with local grocers, as well as increase their production capacity in order to meet their rising demand.
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Sugar Arts Workshop is a Black woman owned food business rooted in Chicago’s South Side neighborhood of Beverly. For their project, they will be launching “ForkLore”, the next phase of their support for small food entrepreneurs. ForkLore is a preservation based food initiative designed to build survival infrastructure for community members and farms. Their mission is to extend the life of local harvests, increase community control over food, and create new entry points for everyday people to access good food. In order to launch this initiative, they will be launching their preservation kitchen, connecting with local growers for sourcing and establishment of a circular economy, training ambassadors to preserve the food and teach community members, and connecting with local institutions and community meal sites to secure sales avenues for these products.
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ChiFresh Kitchen is a cooperative catering business located in Chatham that supports Black and Brown women and others oppressed by the “criminal INjustice system” to grow and thrive through their employee-owner business model. Their project is focused on expanding their resourcing & knowledge sharing with local farmers & food business owners as well as increasing their service to local institutions and expanding their offerings of medically tailored meals to seniors.
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Evanston Grows is a collaboration of nonprofits, schools, gardens, urban farms, and residents with the mission is to increase healthy food access, promote food literacy, and advance health equity by building a local fresh food system that is more just, sustainable, and resilient. Their project will be focused on expanding their distribution in Evanston’s most underserved neighborhoods by significantly increasing their production capacity through a series of infrastructure expansion projects that will allow them to grow produce year-round to provide a consistent supply for both institutional buyers such as schools and senior living centers as well as community distribution programs.
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Food Hero is a bilingual culinary school, food business incubator, shared kitchen, and food production facility based in Little Village. Their mission is to build a stronger, more inclusive local food system by training the next generation of chefs, supporting food entrepreneurs, and expanding access to healthy, culturally rooted meals. Food Hero’s 2025 project is focused on increasing their production capacity & training new staff, expanding their Food as Medicine program, Cocina Rx, to reach new market channels and Institutions, as well as increasing and solidifying their partnerships with local farmers & food Business owners.
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Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO) runs La Villita Farm, which is a 1.3 acre production farm located in the southern end of La Villita Park in Little Village, Chicago. Their mission is to provide local-grown produce to community members facing systemic barriers to food access including language barriers, immigration status, and limited access to public benefits. They do this by integrating sustainable farming practices that focus on agroecology, soil health, water conservation, and community input. LVEJO will be spending the grant period focused on scaling up the farm's capacity and impact and securing their team of dedicated farmers and food justice organizers who steward the land and build relationships with food chain partners and community members who will support in selling their produce to local culinary programs, mutual-aid groups, and local food pantries.
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Wood St. Collective is a 100% Black- and Latinx-led food producer and Englewood resident-led organization striving to upscale their food production, connect residents with fresh food, and navigate a path toward wholesale channels to provide fresh food options to the local community. They plan to achieve this through their sustainable all-season greenhouse and half-acre urban farm. They also organize food access programs and partner with food pantries, and hunger relief food distributions. Their project is focused on expanding their farm and production capacity, as well as their multi-season growing infrastructure.
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Cornerstone Community Development Corporation is a minority, community based not-for-profit organization, located in the Village of Ford Heights with the mission to improve the quality of life for the underprivileged and to assist vulnerable populations in times of crisis. Their project is focused on the launch of the The Sustenance Initiative - a year-round, community-powered food hub designed to increase access to locally sourced, GFPP-aligned produce and food products in Ford Heights and the broader Metro Chicago region. They will be building the food hub, collaborating with local and regional growers, expanding their service to community meal sites, and establishing a weekly Farmers Market.
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The Hope Center is a nonprofit organization focused on community economic development with the vision to eliminate food insecurity in their community in the city of Blue Island. What began as a food pantry has grown into a hub for transformation, equipping neighbors with skills and resources that meet immediate needs while fostering long-term flourishing - from sustainable urban agriculture in their greenhouse, their food forest, and aquaponics systems, to teaching food preservation techniques in their Makers Kitchen in order to steward food security, to automotive training - they provide practical opportunities for folks in their community that build dignity and self-sufficiency. Their project is focused on increasing their production capacity, expanding their ability to host more workshops in their Makers Kitchen, expanding their institutional partnerships, and growing collaborations and network with the Blue Island community.
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Mother Carr’s Farm is a 5 acre pesticide-free farm with the mission to maintain a sustainable, pesticide-free farm, which provides healthy food options, employment, and education for the benefit of the Lynwood community. Now in their 13th season, they continue to grow and evolve as a positive force to address food deserts and health disparities. Their project is focused on increasing their yield, building collaborations along with resource and knowledge sharing with local farms and food businesses, increasing their donations to Lynwood food pantries, and creating new institutional partnerships with local schools & meal programs.
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Ditto Foods is a minority-owned food business partnering with community stakeholders to create sustainable solutions to food insecurity. They focus on increasing the community’s capacity to grow and access high-quality produce, ensuring that the food they cultivate directly benefits the neighborhoods where it is grown. They achieve this by leveraging hydroponics and controlled environment agriculture (CEA). On top of this, they are able to provide workforce development and job readiness training, partner with local schools to teach students, and collaborate with hospitals and community centers to build and maintain community gardens. Their project is focused on increasing access to local and fresh foods with a focus on healthy foods programming, expanding their local Institutional partnerships, and building programming to uplift & engage the local communities they work within.
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Roots & Vine Food Hub is a non-profit, grass roots organization that aims to improve access to healthy, locally-grown food to the Park Forest community and surrounding suburbs, while supporting regional farmers and building a sustainable local food system that serves residents of all income levels. Their mission is to provide nutrition and culinary education through community events and programs, offering a true connection to real food and the people who grow it while providing a new market for local farmers in an area recognized as a food desert. For their project, they plan to increase equitable access to fresh local foods, expand their partnership with local institutions, along with the launch and grand opening of the Roots & Vine Food Hub.
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Real Foods Collective (RFC) is a non-profit organization incubated by Proviso Partners for Health (PP4H) in Maywood with the mission to create economic opportunity through the power of food, community, and connection. RFC aims to invest in racial and economic justice and build a resilient local food system that supports low-income, Black, Latine, and female food entrepreneurs and growers while increasing food access and nutrition education. They strive to provide culturally relevant, locally grown, high quality produce and facilitate nutrition education with community driven plans and ideas. Their project is focused on expanding "Good" Food Offerings in Maywood, launching a local After School Meals Program, and increasing collaborations with other local farmers and institutions.
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Fresher Together is a collaborative food and farming project for healing, economic development, training and retreat; Fresher Together Farms is a Black LGBTQ-owned diversified organic family farm that has operated for six seasons rurally in Beaverville, IL along with an urban farm on Chicago's South Side. In their next phase of growth, they are expanding to a 114 acre farm in Sauk Village, IL- Cook County, that will allow them not only to produce more fresh produce, but will allow them to grow calorically dense, culturally relevant small grains, staple crops and dry beans. Their project is focused on getting the new farm up-and-running, increasing their production capacity and product offerings, and programming to share knowledge and resources with the local community along with other local farmers and food businesses.