Soil Health Week 2025 with the Illinois Stewardship Alliance was soil-riffic! The Illinois Food Scrap & Composting Coalition (IFSCC) participated in multiple events that gathered folks from throughout Illinois virtually and in-person to learn why soil should be protected and celebrated. Of course, we couldn’t leave out the magic of COMPOST in our messaging.
IFSCC was able to reach hundreds of new compost curious people.
The March 3rd General Body Meeting kicked us off by highlighting Sustainable Communities Begin with Compost, a look ahead to this May 4 – 10, when the International Compost Awareness Week Planning Team encourages everyone to join our lineup and/or save the date to attend an in-person event, compost giveback, library program, virtual event and more. Whatcha planning? We’d love to know by April 11 HERE.
Later that evening the IFSCC joined the Land Conservancy of McHenry County and Midwest Organics Recycling to present Making and Using Compost in Northern Illinois. A huge thank you to IFSCC’s Young Professional, Gwen Casey, for developing such a wonderful slide deck for general audiences AND presenting that evening. The participation and questions were thoughtful and it was exciting to see so many folks interested in compost use and backyard/community composting in Illinois.
On March 4, various members of IFSCC were at an in-person event, Composting is Critical to our Planet’s Health. The basics of composting were covered, as well as current legislation and why it is so very necessary that Illinois begin to move forward with food scrap diversion plans and education around the highest, best use of food. IFSCC is appreciative of Tracy Cammack (ICAW, Education and Communications Committee Member) and Liz Kunkle (IFSCC Policy Co-Chair and Board Member) for representing our coalition and continually spreading the good word –and compost!
March 5 was Soil Health Advocacy Day in Springfield. Events included discussions with Illinois advocates, environmental and agricultural organizations, decision-makers, and leaders around SB1397, a Compost Market Development and Study Bill. This is one of two companion bills in the state legislature that the IFSCC and many agencies, organizations and businesses are working on via grassroots effort to Feed and Conserve Illinois.
An IFSCC Policy Committee Compost Facility Tour took place on March 6 at SIU in Carbondale. A group of students, community members and regional staff gathered to learn about the forced air model there and really dug in with good questions and inspired each other to keep finding solutions to compost food scraps and “close the loop”. Compost created on SIU’s campus is returned to the student farm to grow food for the community. The SIU campus also received We Compost decals to display their pride in IFSCC’s free recognition program. A segment aired afterwards with more information about the lovely facility tour HERE.
Capping off the week, IFSCC participated in the 3rd Annual Soil Health Symposium in Marion, IL. The symposium was hosted by Glaciers End and Food Works and centered around soil health and agroforestry. Attendees learned about sustainable farming and gardening practices, soil health best practices, composting and how we can each protect our environment for future generations. It was an event geared towards gardens and farms to food forests and beyond!
Soil conservation starts with each of us. The connections made during Soil Health Week will surely ground IFSCC throughout 2025 and beyond. Let’s keep both soil and compost at the top of our priority list! Without soil and community, there’s no food.