As a Black urban farmer in Chicago, I see firsthand how our food system is stacked against small, local farmers who are Black, Indigenous and people of color. Despite my farm growing fresh, nutrient-rich food in North Lawndale, state agencies often can’t buy from farms like mine. Large distributors control government contracts, shutting out community-based growers who provide healthier, more sustainable food and keep dollars circulating locally.
But change is possible. In Chicago, the Good Food Purchasing Initiative has helped small and BIPOC farmers like me sell to local institutions. Through this program, I’ve worked with the Garfield Park Community Council Farmers Market, Clair House Seniors and the Bronzeville Farmers Market. Most importantly, the majority of the food I grow reaches families in our neighborhood thanks to trusted partnerships with the Young Men’s Educational Network, Stone Temple Missionary Baptist Church, Firehouse Community Arts Center chefs and the Chicago Street Vendors Association.
Because I have seen the impact of this program firsthand in Chicago, I strongly believe it should be expanded statewide.
Now, with federal funding cuts hitting Illinois farmers hard, the need for state action is urgent. Programs such as Illinois EATS, which provided critical income to small farmers while feeding people in need, have been eliminated. Farmers across the state are left scrambling, and without action, many will struggle to stay afloat. House Bill 3701 and Senate Bill 2187, the Good Food Purchasing Law, would give Illinois lawmakers a clear opportunity to act.
This legislation would make it easier for state agencies and state facilities to buy from local farmers, keeping taxpayer dollars in Illinois instead of that money flowing to corporate distributors with no ties to our communities. For farmers in North Lawndale and across Illinois, this legislation represents economic opportunity, food justice and environmental sustainability. Institutions should have the ability to procure food from farmers like me who are deeply invested in our land and our communities.
With federal support proving unreliable, Illinois must take action to build a stronger, more resilient local food system. I urge lawmakers to pass HB3701 and SB2187 to ensure Illinois food dollars support Illinois farmers.
— Dr. Shemuel Israel, lead farmer, Garden to Table Pipeline and North Lawndale Greening Committee, Chicago
Union effort at WFMT
Hannah Edgar’s article on WFMT employees’ intent to unionize (“WFMT employees announce intent to unionize,” March 21) was illuminating and helped explain the dysfunctional decline at parent company WWCI over recent years as it loses program hosts and reporters without providing any explanation.
The lack of transparency is disconcerting, especially from a nonprofit public media group that is constantly having fundraising drives and imploring its audience to give money. The WTTW-Ch. 11 news program “Chicago Tonight” always demands more honesty and transparency from city and state government, so why shouldn’t viewers expect the same from this media group? We WFMT supporters have a right to know if our donations are benefiting the experienced hosts and production staff who make the station great, or are being used to inflate a bloated management that won’t even allow its underpaid and overworked staff to form a union.
Its treatment of longtime host Dennis Moore, whose firing was detailed in the Tribune article, was deplorable and hypocritical, especially in turbulent times of funding cuts in which the arts community should be pulling together. Instead, WWCI created its own turbulence with a CEO whose leadership style and intentions seem similar to that of Elon Musk and his wrecking ball approach to cost-cutting.
The arrogant anti-union stance did not start with the current CEO; even the legendary Studs Terkel was slapped down by WFMT management for his earlier support of an effort to unionize in 1990. I read his book “Working” when I was a teenager in the Teamsters Union driving a forklift on a factory night shift during summers between college semesters and first started listening to WFMT after noticing its program guide showed Studs had a daily morning program. I tuned in for Studs’ program, then heard my first Richard Wagner Ring cycle on the station and have been listening ever since.
Apparently, management supports Studs’ programs about unions in the abstract, as it continues to replay archived interviews. But it doesn’t support its own employees wanting to unionize today for the same historical reasons — better pay and working conditions — that Studs described so well in his books and interviews.
In these troubled times, where oligarchs fire thousands of people without cause, it is imperative that the union finally succeeds and WWCI actually practices the “community” values it preaches on air and in its mission statement. Make Studs great again.
— Franz Burnier, Wheaton
Transportation reporting
Thank you so much for featuring the excellent and informative reporting of Sarah Freishtat on Chicagoland public transportation.
As an ancient who has not been able to drive for more than a decade, even the bad stuff is helpful to know.
— Jesse Auerbach, Chicago
Adventures on the CTA
I have been taking CTA buses to a 12-week physical therapy session at Northwestern Medicine, allowing about an hour for the trip. I’m in the South Loop and take either a No. 146 from State Street and Balbo Drive to Huron Street, or a No. 29 to the library stop and catch a No. 147 to Huron.
The No. 146 to my second physical therapy session broke down at the Tribune Tower stop, and I ended up walking and was quite late. For my fourth session, I took the No. 29 to the library and caught the No. 147 to Huron. The bus had traveled two blocks when the driver got a phone call to take the bus out of service. I got off and waited for another bus.
When that bus came, two blocks later, it picked up a person with the ramp extended. The driver had a difficult time retracting the ramp and after several tries got it on the bus, but the bus would not start. The driver tried many times, and it still did not start. The driver then left the driver’s seat and jumped up and down on the ramp to lock it in. That worked, and the bus started. Finally, we proceeded to the turn to Michigan Avenue only to find an ambulance unloading a stretcher at the turn, so we lost more time. I was very late to my appointment.
I can’t wait to see what other adventures await me during my remaining trips to physical therapy. I’ve decided I need at least two hours for my future trips on the CTA.
— Jacqueline Will, Chicago
Stop releasing balloons
I was distressed to see the Tribune story about a balloon release on the front page (“Balloon release for slain teen,” March 25). I’m very sorry for the loss of the child, but releasing balloons is not going to help, and it will likely cause the death of animals in the ocean.
I beg people not to do balloon releases.
— Marie Stevens, Wilmette
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