Focused insight and valuable expertise.
The Regional Food Council formed in the summer of 2015 and quickly assembled a team representing the five-county region of Greater Peoria in Central Illinois that includes Logan, Mason, Peoria, Tazewell, and Woodford counties. The work of the Council emerged as a natural extension of the growing body of support for fresh food access in the region and was spearheaded by the Gifts in the Moment Foundation. In addition to food access issues, the scope has expanded in the years since as a regional group focused on building a robust regional food system as a driver of community and economic development.
Since its inception, the group has grown with representation from county health departments, community and economic development organizations, farmers and agriculture organizations, community gardens, extension, food producers and retailers, and many more. Throughout 2023, the RFC has convened quarterly network meetups to continue connecting the region’s numerous food system actors and has undertaken an effort to formalize a steering committee to improve the structure and operations of the council and has adopted the Regional Food System strategy.
2023 Regional Food Council Steering Committee
Rebecca Crumrine, University of Illinois Extension, Fulton-Mason-Peoria-Tazewell Unit
Michael Brooks, OSF Healthcare - St. Ann’s Garden of Hope
Rebecca Cottrell, Peoria County - Sustainability and Resource Conservation
Amy Fox, Tazewell County Health Department
Leslie McKnight, Peoria City/County Health Department
Sean Parks, Western Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs
Kathie Brown, Greater Peoria Economic Development Council
Raghela Scavuzzo, Illinois Farm Bureau
Audrey Kamm, Midwest Food Bank