Partnering with the IL State Food System Roadmap Taskforce, this project aimed to create a set of replicable facilitative methods, deployed in a pair of workshops, that would support the envisionment & coordination of a state-wide coalition. The coalition would help support conditions needed to shift institutional purchasing models from cost-based to values-based.
Year: 2025
Sector
Tools
Team
Output: 6 facilitative methods
Context
Lack of resiliency in the Illinois food system was revealed during the COVID pandemic, when supply chains were disrupted, leaving shelves empty. Illinois has long been a major grower and exporter of commodity crops: corn, wheat, soy. Many partners were exploring specialty crop market development to re-regionalize the food system, and the Taskforce was moving into a phase focused on activating opportunities for change.
One specific lever for re-regionalization is institutional procurement. Institutions hold large purchasing power, so helping coordinate the supply and demand could shift growing patterns in the region. In order to coordinate supply & demand, a new cross-sector coalition has to be created, that would allow stakeholders to not only see their work but the work of others, as well.
Key Questions
What assets or capabilities already exist in Illinois’ food system that can support regional coordination and institutional procurement?
How might we support system self-awareness & system collective awareness, so that these assets be better activated & aligned so that contributions reinforce one another rather than compete?
Outputs
Created a set of tailored methods to be contextually relevant for stakeholders that supported shared, generative thinking across a pair of workshops.
Seeing the System
