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 2024, the RFC has convened quarterly network meetups to continue connecting the region’s numerous food system actors and uses a steering committee to improve the structure and operations of the council and has adopted the Regional Food System strategy.

2024 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

Michelle Hatfield, Midwest Food Bank