Funding Body: US Department of Agriculture, in collaboration with the National Science Foundation’s Civic Innovation Challenge

Other Partners: Chicago Food Policy Action Council,
Chicago State University,
DePaul University,
Roosevelt University.

Collaborators include: City of Chicago,
Cook County,
Metro Chicago Good Food Purchasing Initiative,
Community Food Navigator,
Change Lab Solutions.

Team: Weslynne Ashton, Maura Shea, Justin McElderry, Elizabeth Durango-Cohen (IIT Stuart School of Business), Gaudy Solorzano Morera (IIT Stuart School of Business), Yashashri Kolalle (IIT Stuart School of Business)

Timeline: January 2024 - December 2024

Community Food Mobilization in Chicago (CF-MOB) project is a one year pilot project that aims to identify pathways for local BIPOC food producers to nourish their communities by leveraging the purchasing power of large public institutions.

The Community Food Mobilization in Chicago (CF-MOB) project investigates mechanisms to transform the structures of food production and distribution in ways that center racial justice, sovereignty and community food access. It aims to advance understanding of public procurement's role in investing in local, equitable food supply chain development, while empowering and creating space for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) food stakeholders to self-determine their participation in it.

The team will research structural barriers and practitioner experiences along the food supply chain, including the community’s diverse visions to design a set of innovative, food mobilization pathways:

• They will identify a shortlist of high-impact, sustainable food products available in the 300-mile radius Chicago foodshed, identify and map supply chain gaps for GFPI-aligned products, and model budgetary scenarios and procurement process reforms enabling integration of local food suppliers, especially BIPOC, into institutional procurement processes.

• They will develop specifications for a digital platform to share information about food procurement and mobilization opportunities, and connect the diverse constituencies across Chicagoland.