Briefs Roosevelt Network

Addressing Food Insecurity in Cook County: Expanding Food Recovery from Local Outlets

July 28, 2015

By Jennifer Kim, Doug Ortiz, Rahul Shah, Janet Salcedo

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In order to increase the capacity of food programs serving food insecure individuals Cook County, the Chicago Department of Procurement Services should require all city food contracts to be awarded to businesses that participate in food recovery programs with the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

About Roosevelt Summer Institute

Over the course of nine weeks, Summer Academy Fellows are placed full-time with a partner organization, city government, community-based organization, advocacy group, or think tank. Concurrently, Fellows participate in a rigorous curriculum composed of workshops, field visits, a speaker series and a team-based challenge that develops key skills necessary to effectively engage with policy change.

In 2015 Roosevelt Summer Institute partnered with the Illinois Public Health Institute to research policy solutions to food insecurity that can guarantee access to fresh and healthy foods for the Chicago community. Eight students from across the country came together in Chicago to work on policy focused internships and conduct this research targeted at making more fresh and healthy food available for local food banks such as the Greater Chicago Food Depository.