During Illinois’ Farm to Food Bank program’s first two years, nearly 2.5 million pounds of food was provided to food banks costing $1.1 million. The pilot program provides new market opportunities for farmers to move surplus food commodities or product considered “seconds” to food banks, and expands the supply of fresh food to food banks. Several stakeholders discussed how the “farmer-first” initiative works and the development of several models to fit the needs of different-sized farms. READ MORE