Northern Illinois Food Bank works every day to ensure that everyone in our communities has the nutritious food they need to thrive. Our mission is to provide nutritious food and resources for our neighbors, with dignity, equity and convenience, through partnerships and innovation.
To do this, we rely on community support, strong relationships with local food donors, and vital public-private partnerships at the local, state, and federal levels. These partnerships provide a variety of funding and food sources that, last year, helped Northern Illinois Food Bank and its network of more than 900 partner programs in 13 counties provide over 90 million meals.
But, we are facing challenges. Recent cuts to certain funding streams for food have been made, and of course, current economic conditions are affecting us all. The complexities related to these changes to funding sources, and the cost of living, have prompted many in our community to ask questions. Here, we answer some of our most frequently asked questions.
Understanding Food Banks
What is a Food Bank?
A Food Bank is a non-profit food distribution center that collects, sorts, and stores food to distribute to its partner agencies and programs such as food pantries, community meal sites, produce distribution partners, senior programs, and children’s programs. These partners work to help ensure that people experiencing hunger have the nutritious food they need every day.
How many Food Banks are there?
Northern Illinois Food Bank is one of 199 Food Banks across the country that partner with Feeding America, our nation’s largest hunger relief organization. In our state, 8 food banks, including Northern Illinois Food Bank, are connected through Feeding Illinois. Each food bank has its own service area, ensuring that every county has access to charitable food.
Where does Northern Illinois Food Bank operate?
We serve our neighbors in 13 counties, covering over 7000 square miles of Northern Illinois:
- Boone County
- DeKalb County
- DuPage County
- Grundy County
- Kane County
- Kankakee County
- Kendall County
- Lake County
- McHenry County
- Ogle County
- Stephenson County
- Will County
- Winnebago County
Who is eligible to receive food?
At Northern Illinois Food Bank’s direct distributions, such as mobile markets, no proof of need, age, or residency is required. At some of our partner agencies that serve specific geographic areas (such as township pantries), proof of address may be required. SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as Food Stamps), is a program that provides food-purchasing dollars to low-income neighbors. There are very strict regulations and requirements that determine who can receive SNAP benefits, and how much can be received. These restrictions include income, age, citizenship status and more. Northern Illinois Food Bank employs a team of SNAP experts to help neighbors apply for SNAP benefits and navigate this complicated process. Our SNAP Helpline is 844-600-SNAP (7627).
How many people are served by Northern Illinois Food Bank?
We are currently serving 570,000 neighbors each month.
How much food does Northern Illinois Food Bank distribute?
In our fiscal year 2024 (July 2023-June 2024), we distributed nearly 110 million pounds of food – the equivalent of 90 million meals. 27% of the food our neighbors received was fresh produce, 16% was protein, and 13% was dairy.
Food Sources
Where does Northern Illinois Food Bank’s food come from?
The Food Bank receives food from multiple sources:
• Foods purchased by Northern Illinois Food Bank using funds raised through generous community support (16%)
• Food donations from local grocers, retailers, distribution centers, and community food drives (71%)
• State and federal government programs, such as The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), Local Food Purchase Assistance Program (LFPA) the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) and food purchased through the Commodity Credit Corp (CCC) (13%)
Recent Federal Funding Cuts and Their Impact
Food banks have been in the news recently about cuts to hunger relief programs. What is this about?
In the past few weeks, food banks across the country learned about cuts to two federal programs:
- The Local Food Purchase Agreement (LFPA): This federal program provided funds for food banks to source healthy foods (like fresh produce and proteins) from local, small farmers. The LFPA will end June 30, 2025.
- Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC): Founded during the Great Depression, this funding source, which helps stabilize farm income, has purchased surplus commodities and provided them to food banks since 2018. Some orders scheduled to ship April through July 2025 have been canceled, and CCC will cease to exist.
- The impact on Northern Illinois Food Bank: In the first three quarters of our fiscal year (July 2024-March 2025) we received over 3.5 million meals through LFPA and CCC combined. This means that, moving forward, the Food Bank will need to source and purchase an additional 4.5 million meals per year. This represents about 5% of all the meals the Food Bank currently delivers.
Are there more potential cuts on the horizon?
Although legislation is still pending, “…the U.S. House of Representatives (is) seeking to cut $230 billion of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s budget over the next decade to pay for tax cuts. The Senate version of the bill calls for at least $1 billion in USDA cuts. Most, or all, of those savings would come from cutting funding for SNAP.” (CNBC, 4/16/2024)
Is there any positive news?
The relationship between food banks and the USDA is a long-standing one that is critical to meeting the needs of people facing hunger. This means that while we need to recover the food lost through the sunsetting of the CCC and LFPA, we are hopeful for continued partnership with the USDA, which has traditionally been a source of support for both food banks and farmers.
I heard that the food that was cancelled was sitting on trucks and is rotting, or that truckloads were turned around. Is that true?
No, this is a false claim, as was the AI image circulating on social media. The truckloads of food that have been canceled are CCC foods that were scheduled to be delivered between April and July 2025. Food was not sitting on trucks, and no truckloads of donations were turned around. Food that had already been purchased by CCC prior to the announcement of its termination is still being delivered. To our knowledge, no food is rotting or going to waste.
Will these cuts affect how much food individuals and families can receive?
Although we are committed to doing everything we can to eliminate hunger in Northern Illinois, we also realize that we must be fiscally responsible to ensure we can fulfill our mission into the future. We are currently assessing the potential impact of increased need, during a time when some food sources are going away and others are costing considerably more. When a funding or source or food supply disappears, we need to fill that gap to continue to serve our neighbors. If we aren’t able to replace lost resources, then YES, our neighbors are impacted. We are grateful for the caring community which supports our efforts, without whom we could not continue.
I would like to personally help the fight hunger – what is the best way for me to get involved?
Thank you for your interest in supporting our mission! Here are a few ways to help:
- Your financial support is crucial! A donation of $100 can help feed a family for a month. Please consider becoming a monthly donor – it’s a convenient and secure way to ensure all our neighbors have the food they need to thrive all year long.
- Join our Advocacy Network to get updates and learn how you can reach out to your elected officials and elevate the need for critical hunger relief programs
- Volunteer your time to ensure that healthy food gets to the people that need it most.