John Shapiro

Partner, Freeborn & Peters LLP

Board Member, Bigger Table

As we head toward a second set of pandemic-impacted year-end holidays, many see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.  But for so many in our communities that glimmer remains elusive.  The numbers are staggering.  More than 10% of U.S. households are food insecure – at risk of going hungry or without access to nutritious foods. This equates to more than 42 million people, including 13 million children, in the US who may face food insecurity in 2021. 

Locally, the Greater Chicago Food Depository estimates that about one in seven people in Cook County will experience food insecurity this year.  And throughout Illinois an estimated 1.4 million people – nearly half a million of whom are children – face hunger every day.  Reports indicate that COVID-19 pandemic related factors and economic consequences, such as job loss, have made it even more difficult for many to obtain nutritious food.  

To start to address this issue, Chicagoland Food & Beverage Network (CFBN) and Bigger Table (https://www.biggertable.org/), CFBN’s 501(c)(3) affiliate, have taken this challenge head on:

• By reimagining the way in which ingredients can be repurposed into wholesome shelf-stable food products
• By creating a first-of-its-kind workforce development program designed to provide jobs in the food and beverage industries   
• By bringing food companies, service providers and others together 
• By tapping into companies’ know-how, capabilities, culture of generosity, and willingness to share in order to accomplish more meaningful progress together

There is incredible potential in building partnerships that bring industry, service providers and communities, along with their diverse perspectives and capabilities, together.  At Bigger Table and CFBN, we demonstrate each day that we accomplish more when we work together.  Please join us!

For me, silver linings that have come out of the pandemic include a catalyst for collaboration, renewed spirit of community action, and an enhanced desire to assist those less fortunate.  When we work together, the potential to address hunger, food insecurity and other societal ills increases greatly.  I urge you to get involved and make a difference. 

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