CIVIC-PG Track B: Community Food Mobilization in Chicago

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The Chicagoland Food Research-Centered Pilot Project (ChiFood-RCPP) addresses a pressing research need identified by communities of Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) food practitioners: how to restructure the food production, distribution and consumption system to center their aspirations of creating equitable access to nourishing and culturally-affirming foods, while self-determining the scale and scope of their work in the food system. The pilot project uses the Good Food Purchasing Initiative (GFPI), a policy platform adopted in both the City of Chicago and Cook County, as a vehicle for local public institutions, BIPOC producers and workers to chart pathways to achieve these goals. The team will conduct research in social, geographic and data sciences along with design and management, to investigate processes for innovating public procurement processes, while incorporating diverse values, and social, economic and environmental objectives. ChiFood-RCPP advances multi-disciplinary research to build access to essential resources and services that meet community needs. The pilot will uncover and test pathways to operationalize equity goals through food policy work, in partnership with key stakeholders. Coalitions of researchers and practitioners throughout the U.S. can replicate these pilot approaches with diverse participants across the food value chain. For decades, Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) activists have leveled critiques that the values, culture and infrastructures shaping food markets and policies perpetuate racial disparities in food producers’ and consumers’ access to food, foodways, economic benefits and health outcomes. Vertically-integrated food businesses dominate the food supply chain, operating with knowledge and capital to play on massive economies of scale, which limit the ability of small and BIPOC-owned businesses to compete on level playing fields. This project addresses asymmetries in the food system by exploring and developing data and models centered on the goals of BIPOC food practitioners, meal recipients and advocates. It places these resources in their and procurement officials' hands to ensure research findings are relevant, actionable and self-sustainable. Researchers will explore 1) mechanisms for incorporating diverse stakeholders’ values, meanings and visions into food systems transformation; 2) data and models that advance equitable local food supply chain development; 3) prototypes of network, policy and participatory structures to engage BIPOC food communities (producers, workers, entrepreneurs, eaters) in culturally-affirming, scale-appropriate strategies; and 4) a roadmap of frameworks and pathways to systemize an inclusive food system culture that honors a plurality of values and practices, offers market channel flexibility and guides community food mobilization goals. This project is in response to the Civic Innovation Challenge program—Track B. Bridging the gap between essential resources and services & community needs—and is a collaboration between NSF, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Energy.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.