Local Food & Agriculture

Transporting and refrigerating food across long distances burns GHG emitting fossil fuels. The less transportation and refrigeration needed to supply our food, the more sustainable it becomes.   

Our food system is also vulnerable to impacts of climate change like extreme precipitation and heat, climate-induced invasive species, and livestock vulnerabilities.

Food insecurity—disruption of nutrition availability because of lack of money, access, or other resources—is inequitably felt. People experiencing low income are nearly three times more likely to experience food insecurity.  We should anticipate that the climate change vulnerabilities of our national food system will exacerbate the inequities of food security in all communities. 

  1. Progress Report: Skokie Sustainability Plan

    In the second quarter of 2023, Village staff worked together towards achieving Skokie's Environmental Sustainability Plan goals. View the highlights, including LED light upgrades, a new electric vehicle, and more. Read on...
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Implementation is for Everyone!

Some actions in this plan will need to be led by the 
Village Board, Village departments, and/or the business community. In addition, there are steps that households and individuals can take to make an impact.   Click below to find out out the what you as a resident can do to help the Village achieve these visionary goals.

What Can YOU Do button

Local Food & Agriculture Strategies

Below are the specific Local Food & Agriculture goals outlined in the 2022 Environmental Sustainability Plan. Clicking on one of them will display the list of actions to be incorporated into the Village's workplans. They are broken down into completed, in-progress, and future and progress is updated quarterly.

  1. Increase availability and resilience of locally-produced food.

In-Progress Actions

  • Conduct a study to identify vacant properties or under-utilized plots/land area which could be transformed into urban farms or community garden plots and establish an implementation plan accordingly.
  • Collaborate with schools and park district to establish a “Grow Skokie” program increasing community garden plots and establishing a “market garden” concept supporting garden and urban agriculture training and internship opportunities for youth. Program to work with local restaurants, food shelves, or others working directly with food-insecure individuals in the community for distribution of food grown in the “market garden.” Explore potential of partnering with Oakton Community College.
  • Create and promote a publicly available GIS map database to locate and increase awareness of community garden locations within the community and provide contact information.
  • Create and promote a publicly available GIS map database to locate and increase awareness of community garden locations within the community and provide contact information.
  • Create and promote a publicly available GIS map database to locate and increase awareness of community garden locations within the community and provide contact information.
  • Review/update code to provide incentives for multi-unit buildings and developments/sub-divisions and commercial developers to preserve topsoil, use finished compost for soil amendment, and provide space for backyard or community gardens.
  1. Increase access to locally-produced food, particularly serving food-insecure individuals
  1. Reduce food waste and hunger, achieve a 50% reduction in food insecurity community-wide by 2030.

Questions about the Local Food and Agriculture sector? Please send an email to Sustainability@skokie.org.