50 Years of Impact

ISA’s First 50 Years

In 1974, folks in downstate Illinois came together to do something about the devastating impacts of coal strip mining. They were fed up with the pollution from runoff, hazardous waste, and the destruction of prime farmland.

First named the Illinois South Project, they worked collectively with stewards of the land.

They organized the grassroots across southern and central Illinois to demand state and federal officials protect family farms, rural communities, and our land and water.

They knew if we take care of this land, it will take care of us.

In 1977, they helped pass the monumental federal law that protects people and our land and water from the environmental impacts of coal mining to this day. Illinois South Project evolved into the Illinois Stewardship Alliance, a statewide membership- based organization for stewards of land and community. Our members share a vision of a local food and farm system that is economically viable, socially just and environmentally sustainable.

ISA has been organizing farmers and eaters to make change for decades.

How does organizing make change possible?

Our timeline of wins:

2020 to Today

In response to the pandemic impact on the food system, distributed $250k through our Resilience Fund to assist farmers in scaling up their operations to meet the skyrocketing demand for reliable, healthy local food
Passed the Home-to-Market Act to revolutionize cottage food law in Illinois & help small farm and food businesses grow
Secured $500k in state funding to support a new SNAP match program at farmers markets allowing SNAP recipients to afford fresh fruits and vegetables from local farms.
Helped found national Campaign for Family Farms and the Environment (CFFE) to stop industrial livestock CAFOs
Published “Putting Local Food on the Table in IL: Barriers and Opportunities for Value- Added Agricultural Enterprises and Direct Marketing by IL Farmers
Led a coalition of organizations to create the statewide Buy Fresh Buy Local Illinois program, helping connect shoppers to local food and farm businesses
Held the first Dishing on the Farm Bill event to organize farmers and eaters around federal food and farm policy
Stopped a proposed ban on raw milk sales, enabling farmers to legally sell raw milk on farm
Passed Industrial Hemp Act to bring hemp farming back to Illinois
Advocated for and won funding to create the state’s first program to reward farmers for using the conservation practice of cover crops, Fall Covers for Spring Saving
Changed regulations to better support small-scale and sustainable livestock production, including better regulations to support meat, egg, dairy sales at farmers markets, and changing processing regulations to ease bottlenecks and allow for more on-farm processing
Championed the creation of the Local Food Infrastructure Grant Program, the state’s first ever grant program to support mills, canneries, food hubs, processing facilities and other projects intended to get food from Illinois farms to Illinois communities

2010’s

Passed Seed Sharing Bill to legalize seed libraries
Hosted first farm to table series, Local Flavors, in Central Illinois to support restaurants in buying from local farms
Passed first Illinois Cottage Food Law
Established Buy Fresh Buy Local (BFBL) Central Illinois chapter
Publishes first Cover Crop Business Directory for Illinois
Illinois created Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy (NLRS)
Passed the Illinois Local Food, Farms, and Jobs Act, which created a council to address food system issues and a goal of shifting 20% of state purchasing to local food by 2020

2000’s

Founding member of National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC)
Participated (and won!) the national campaign to end the mandatory pork check-off
Hosted “Planting the Seeds for Change: First Alliance Assembly Highlights” to gather statewide members and groups

1990’s

Recruited 17 farmers for on-farm research project, Farm and Community Regeneration Program
Hosted five regional grassroots roundtables to develop an agenda for the 1995 Farm Bill and coordinated efforts with the Sustainable Ag Working Group to support appropriations for sustainable ag in the Farm Bill
Won the Federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act
Established East St. Louis Farmers Market
Led a campaign for state legislation to restrict non-family farmers to own or buy farmland
Organized members around issues of farmland conservation, rural community building, synthetic fuels, and sustainable agriculture
IL South Project becomes Illinois Stewardship Alliance, with a new mission to support food production systems based on family farms and a greater understanding between rural and urban people about food production and environment
Called for a state moratorium on the construction of hog confinement operations with more than 500 animal units until new state rules and regulations for livestock facilities
Hosted Hog Wild Conference to ensure representation on Governor’s livestock industry task force to address confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs)

1980’s

1980 – Farm crisis hits: average farm income plummeted by 83% between 1978 and 1980
1985 First Farm Aid benefit concert hosted by Willie Nelson, held in Champaign in 1985
Participated in the first National Farm Crisis Day on Oct. 2, 1985
Received funding from Farm Aid to recruit attorneys and counselors and 35 volunteers in Family Farm Program to coordinate a Farm Crisis hotline

1970’s

1974 – Illinois South Project founded
1975 – Established Farmers Market in Carbondale & organized around issues of eminent domain, coal development, and coal gasification in southern IL