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Pt. I: The Good Food Purchasing Initiative of Metro Chicago (GFPI)

The Good Food Purchasing Initiative of Metro Chicago (GFPI) works to ensure that our community’s institutions buy food that advances a racially equitable, healthy, fair, local, humane, and sustainable food system. As institutions shift their spending to reflect community values, we can transform cafeterias into vibrant spaces where good food is accessible for all. The initiative is led by the Chicago Department of Public Health, Cook County Department of Public Health, and the Chicago Food Policy Action Council.

 

GFPI Objectives

 

Venn diagram of how the GFPI Objectives are connected to one another.

 

Good Food Purchasing Program (GFPP) Implementation: 

  • Fully implementing the Good Food Purchasing Policy with the City of Chicago, its Sister Agencies, and the Cook County Government

Supply Chain Development: 

  • Developing a racially & socially equitable regional food supply chain that can meet increasing institutional demand for good food

  • Supporting pathways for BIPOC food producers and food businesses to sell to public and community-based meal programs, cafeterias, and concessions

Creating a Culture of Good Food in All Institutions: 

  • Normalizing values-based procurement across all community-based “anchor” institutions in the Chicago region, including hospitals, higher ed institutions, cultural institutions, senior living facilities, and others

  • Engaging both institutional food service staff and meal program recipients in building food literacy and directing Good Food Purchasing Initiative activities

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About the Good Food Purchasing Policy: 

Through the key principles of equity, transparency, and accountability, the Good Food Purchasing Policy (GFPP) encourages large institutions to shift their purchasing practices toward five core values – Local Economies, Environmental Sustainability, Valued Workforce, Animal Welfare, and Nutrition. 

Institutions that adopt GFPP utilize the Good Food Purchasing Program to guide their efforts. The program provides a flexible framework to support community-based institutions in creating goals for their food procurement around the five core values.

 

 Overview of GFPP Adoption in Chicago and Cook County 

City of Chicago: 

In 2017, Chicago adopted the Good Food Purchasing Policy (GFPP), leveraging more than $100 million in government food procurement to advance a healthier, more equitable food system. The policy directs City of Chicago departments and sister agencies to assess their current food spend and to create Good Food Action Plans to increase their healthy, sustainable, local, and fair purchasing. 

The City of Chicago was the first city after Los Angeles to take the bold move of comprehensively adopting GFPP for all city-run programs that procure food. In partnership with the Mayor’s Office Food Equity Council, the Chicago Department of Public Health coordinates the Chicago Good Food Task Force, which includes representatives from all departments and sister agencies that purchase food. For a list of all City of Chicago public institutions that run nutrition programs, concessions, or food-related special events, please visit PT II: Metro Chicago Institutions Adopting Good Food Standards. 

Cook County: 

Cook County became the third local government in the U.S. to approve a resolution promoting the Good Food Purchasing Program (GFPP) in May 2018. Cook County's resolution emphasizes purchasing food from business owners of color and/or from low- to moderate-income communities to build economic sustainability for all. Over time, food service vendors that supply food to Cook County government sites will meet higher Good Food Standards in each value category. 

All Cook County institutions that procure food, in addition to partner organizations related to GFPP’s core values, are members of the Cook County Good Food Task Force, which is coordinated by the Cook County Department of Public Health. For a list of all Cook County public institutions that run nutrition programs, concessions, or food-related special events, please visit PT II: Metro Chicago Institutions Adopting Good Food Standards. [insert link to webpage]

Other Local Institutional GFPP Adoption: 

The Good Food Purchasing Initiative is working with other local community institutions, like hospitals and colleges, to explore good food purchasing strategies and adopt their own GFPP policies. In 2021, the Chicago Food Policy Action Council and Illinois Public Health Institute’s Alliance for Health Equity, in collaboration with Health Care Without Harm and Basil’s Harvest, launched the Good Food in Healthcare Cohort of seven local hospital systems who are exploring good food purchasing strategies. The Good Food Purchasing Initiative is also working with the South Metropolitan Higher Education Consortium to explore policy adoption with their member colleges. Do you work for a local Chicago metro area institution that wants to join the Good Food Purchasing Initiative? Please contact us to learn more on how to get involved!

National GFPP Adoption: 

School districts, municipal governments, hospitals, universities, and other institutions are passing Good Food Purchasing Policies all across the country. As of 2021, 57 institutions in 24 cities were enrolled in the Good Food Purchasing Program, representing over $1 billion in annual food spend. To learn more about other jurisdictions and anchor institutions that have adopted GFPP nationally, please visit the Center for Good Food Purchasing’s Good Food Cities website. 

 

Learn more about this map from the Center for Good Food Purchasing’s Good Food Cities website. 

 
 

How Local Producers Can Meet the Good Food Standards

Institutions that are implementing GFPP will be looking for food products that meet the following Good Food Standards set for Local Economies, Environmental Sustainability, Valued Workforce, Animal Welfare, and Nutrition. Each Good Food Standard relies on best practices and existing third-party certifications for their definition. The Good Food Standards are updated every five years by a national team of food system leaders along with a wide coalition of key stakeholders.

If you're a farmer or food business in the Chicago foodshed, here is some exciting news: you likely meet the criteria for the Local Economies Standard! That means that institutions and their supply chain partners are incentivized to buy your products. Your products may also count in the other value categories, too, which could help open up more sales opportunities. Learn more about the basic definitions for each Good Food Standard below.

Local Economies

Courtesy of Real Food Media and the Center of Good Food Purchasing

Supports diverse, small to mid-sized food producers in the region. 

  • The Local Economies definition is based on a combination of farm size (defined by gross cash farm income) and farm distance from purchasing institutions (250 miles for produce; 500 miles for meat, eggs, and dairy). 

  • Any farm that is family-run or cooperatively owned within this radius qualifies for the Local Economies Standard. More points are awarded depending on the size of the farm. There are three levels, with definitions based on the USDA Agricultural Census. Click here to learn more about how the USDA defines these farm sizes: 

    • Large farms (between $1-5 million for produce; $20-50 million for meat)

    • Medium farms (less than $1 million for produce; less than $20 million for meat),

    • Small farms (less than $350,000 for produce; less than $1 million for meat)

  • There are extra incentives for institutions to support:

    • Hyper-local farms, located in the same county as the institution

    • Food purchased from Socially Disadvantaged, Beginning, Limited Resource, Veteran, Women, Minority, or Disabled Farmers/Ranchers

    • Farmers that are outside the region, but are Fairtrade International (FLO) or Small Producer Symbol (SPP) certified

  • Institutions get extra points for supporting local farmers, workers, and businesses in a variety of ways, such as the following:

    • Signing forward contracts or memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with farmers in advance of the season

    • Establishing and implementing a local hire policy, and/or financially supporting workforce development programs

    • Providing funds to small farmers to obtain costly third-party certifications

    • Supporting local worker-owned cooperative food businesses

    • Creating a Community Benefits Agreement for new facilities

    • Supporting the development of new food hubs and other infrastructure that helps smaller farmers connect to larger buyers

Environmental Sustainability

Lettuce Meetup/Alegría en la granja is a farm volunteer event hosted by the Chicago Food Policy Action Council & various partners where Black Indigenous People of Color can learn about farming and participate in hands on activities outside. This particular event was held at Cedillo’s Fresh Produce, a family-run farm located at 325 W. 70th Place. For volunteer opportunties with Cedillo’s please visit: http://cedillosfreshproduce.com/volunteer

Support producers that employ sustainable production systems that reduce or eliminate synthetic pesticides and fertilizers; avoid the use of hormones, routine antibiotics, and genetic engineering; conserve soil and water; protect and enhance wildlife habitats and biodiversity; and reduce on-farm energy and water consumption, food waste and greenhouse gas emissions. Institutions are also encouraged to redesign menu offerings so meals have lower carbon and water footprints. 


  • Examples of qualifying certifications for the Environmental Sustainability Standard include: USDA Organic, Animal Welfare Approved, Certified Humane, American Grassfed Alliance Certified, Seafood Watch, Protected Harvest, and Food Alliance Certified. For a complete list of qualifying certifications and how heavily they are weighted in the GFPP points system, please visit this infographic.

  • If a farm uses sustainable practices but does not hold a certification, their products can still qualify for this standard. They can instead provide the institutional buyer with a signed affidavit that verifies the produce has been grown without chemical pesticides, herbicides, or any neonicotinoids. An institution or its community partners are advised to accompany the affidavit with a site visit to the farm.

Valued Workforce

Lettuce Meetup/Alegría en la granja is a farm volunteer event hosted by the Chicago Food Policy Action Council & various partners where Black Indigenous People of Color can learn about farming and participate in hands on activities outside. Pictured here are Marie Claire & Bahati Aimee volunteering at Urban Growers Collective. For volunteer opportunties with Cedillo’s please visit: http://urbangrowerscollective.org/volunteer

Supports suppliers that provide safe and healthy working conditions and fair compensation for all food chain workers and producers from production to consumption. 

  • Examples of certifications that qualify farms and food businesses in the Valued Workforce Standard include Food Justice Certified, Equitable Food Initiative, Fair for Life, and Fairtrade USA. Unionized companies and worker-owned cooperatives score highest in the Valued Workforce Standard. For a complete list of qualifying certifications and how heavily they are weighted in the GFPP points system, please visit this infographic.

  • Companies that have a strong social responsibility policy can also qualify for the Valued Workforce Standard. The policy must include the following:

    • Union or non-poverty wages

    • Respect for freedom of association and collective bargaining

    • Safe and healthy working conditions

    • Proactive prevention of sexual harassment and assault

    • Prohibition of child labor

    • At least one employee benefit, like employer-paid health insurance, paid sick days, and profit sharing with employees.

  • If an institution’s food vendor, or one of their food vendor’s suppliers, has been found to have serious health & safety or wage & hour violations over the past three years, the institution sends a letter to that business to ask what steps they have taken to prevent future violations. An institution may cancel a contract, or require its vendor to cancel a supplier contract, if willful, repeated, and/or pervasive violations continue after the letter is sent.

  • Any products that have been produced with slave or forced labor or child labor, or are produced by companies with serious, prolonged patterns of labor violations, will not count towards points in any of the five Good Food Standards.

Animal Welfare

Courtesy of Stef Funk

Supports suppliers that provide healthy and humane care for farm animals. 

  • Examples of certifications for animal welfare standards include; Animal Welfare approved, American Grassfed, Global Animal Partnership, Certified Humane Raised & Handled, USDA Organic, PCO certified 100% Grassfed, and more. For a complete list of qualifying certifications and how heavily they are weighted in the GFPP points system, please visit this infographic.

Nutrition

Pictured is Bweza Itaagi from Sistas in the Village at a Lettuce Meetup/Alegría en la Granja event. To stay updated with Sistas in the Village, please follow them on Instagram @sistasinthevillage. To learn more about the farm incubator at Urban Growers Collective, visit: http://urbangrowerscollective.org/farmerincubatorprogram

Promote health and well-being by offering generous portions of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and minimally processed foods while reducing salt, added sugars, saturated fats, and red meat consumption and eliminating artificial additives. Improving equity, affordability, accessibility, and consumption of high-quality culturally relevant Good Food in all communities is central to advancing Good Food purchasing practices.

  • While there are no specific certifications for farms or food businesses that would help products meet the Nutrition Standard, people who are growing fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains, and culturally relevant ingredients can promote how their products will better meet the Nutrition Standard for an institution. 

  • Food businesses that produce healthier, minimally processed products and/or culturally important foods for local populations may also leverage the Nutrition Standard.

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