Northern Illinois Young Farmers Chapter
We believe deeply in the power of agrarian organizing - groups that pull people together to motivate, educate, and charge towards a unified vision - to get us where we all dream of going.
Or, as the Grange Hall motto puts it, “To hasten the good time coming.”
We formed in the fall of 2021. Much love and appreciation to our founding members: Christine Johnson, Sheri Doyel, Ritchie Wai, Laura Calvert, and Jeanne Janson.
Northern Illinois Young Farmers is an ecosystem of community leaders who are directly engaged with building a more just, equitable, and sustainable food system. Connection and the Collective are at the center of all the work we do. We aim to strengthen the ties between the farmers, ranchers, land stewards, earthworkers, and local food system allies of northern Illinois. We envision ourselves as the mycelium network connecting the agrarian communities across rural, suburban, and urban landscapes.
Much like the vast underground fungal networks, we support, inform, and partner to help build a local farm community. We do this through creating spaces to gather and into these spaces we bring our joys, griefs, gratitudes, angers, and deep rooted hopes. We ask each other for radical honesty, kindness, and grace. We view each of our relationships as an opportunity to enact the future we imagine. We invite you to come learn and experiment with us.
Northern Illinois Young Farmers is a chapter of the National Young Farmers Coalition (NYFC). You can learn more about NYFC at their website and become a member to support a more equitable farming future.
