Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** the community food mobilization…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** the community food mobilization in chicago (CF-MOB) project investigates mechanisms totransform 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. CF-MOB leverages strong multi-sectoral partnerships among food producers, workers, eaters, advocates and public institutions around the metro chicago good food purchasing initiative (gfpi). Gfpi aims to reorient public institutions' large spending on food towards products aligned with five good food values and anchors resources for bipoc stakeholders to benefit from IT. This massive challenge requires targeted research to identify mechanisms for overcoming resource apartheid and articulating strategic roles for public procurement in this process. 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 a digital platform – metro chicago good food dashboard – to share information about food procurement and mobilization opportunities, and connect the diverse constituencies across chicagoland.