"To be surrounded by the best soil in the world and be surrounded by farmland and still know that we have people who don’t have enough to eat, it’s shocking. To know that there are more and more farms that are turning what was corn and beans into real food for real people that’s really encouraging. We see the growth of the Co-op, the growth of local farmers, the farmer’s market - one of the best in the state, we see the Champaign Market picking up, we see more and more grocery stores and retailers selling local food. That all speaks to this kind of conversion and this is a little bit of a revolution of saying, 'This is the bread basket, we have what we need here, but let’s keep it here. Let’s feed real food for real people and stop having people who aren’t nourished, or are having health problems from fighting hunger.'
I feel really positive. Then we have other growers like, livestock producers, we have flower farmers, we have grain farmers, it’s not just vegetables. ... That’s awesome to see all of our resources here being put to that need in our community, but it also is creating jobs, bringing people back to Central Illinois or people come to stay here. That’s awesome that there are more and more people who are able to work with their hands doing something that is meaningful to them. I’m proud to be one of them."