Karen Lehman, the new director of the Fresh Taste Initiative, came to visit with faculty and staff working on sustainable agriculture and food systems research at the U of I on June the 2nd.  She explained that the Fresh Taste Initiative was conceived by a group of Illinois foundations who were all funding food system work and felt they could have more impact if they worked together.  Fresh Taste is supported by the Chicago Community Trust, the City of Chicago, the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelly Foundation, the Kellogg Foundation, the Kraft Foundation, Liberty Prairie Foundation, Lumpkin Family Foundation,  which is supported by the Farm Land Preservation Foundation, Chicago Conservation Trust, Liberty Prairie Foundation, Lumpkin Foundation, and the Prince Charitable Trust.

Karen described Fresh Taste as working in the place where business, public, and philanthropic sectors come together.  (The University is considered part of the public in this context.)  Fresh Taste is not itself a grantmaking organization - there is no pool of funds for local foods.  She has been inspired by the work folks are doing in Iowa with "communities of practice" and indicated this was an approach that might serve Illinois.   Among other things, Fresh Taste sees possibilities in strengthening local food systems by more effectively aggregating products for local markets.  Karen said she looks to the university to help them make the economic case for doing this.

Karen was sensitive to the fact that many groups working on these issues have not been sitting around waiting for a new organization to form so they could start networking.  She invites folks who care about food, agriculture and community issues to read the "Starfish and the Spider" for inspiration on how decentralized groups can have impact. 

Before moving to Chicago, Karen was the Director of the Food Program at the Minnesota Project and has worked on food systems for more than two decades. Beginning with an award-winning documentary on women in farm movements, Dairy Queens, for the PBS series, "Matters of Life and Death," she expanded her work to encompass policy and practice in local, national, and international arenas. And, among other things, she held the Endowed Chair in Agricultural Systems at the University of Minnesota and has worked on national and global agriculture policy for the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.

Groups and individuals interested in the initiative are encouraged to contact Karen.  She will be traveling back and forth between Chicago and Mattoon, which is the home of the Lumpkin foundation, and she welcomes interactions with members of U of I and the CU community as she makes this journey.   Contact Karen Lehman (karenl@cct.org) 312-616-8000, ext. 180