At the Intersection of Planning and Public Health: Kane County, Illinois
The Kane County Planning Cooperative received a 2016 National Planning Achievement Award for A Best Practice for its work to implement the Kane County 2040 Plan “Healthy People, Healthy Living, Healthy Communities.”
Kane County is also one of the Plan4Health coalitions working to improve access to healthy food in the community. Kane County Plan4Health coalition members hosted a Sunday National Planning Conference sessioon in Phoenix focused on their food hub feasibility study.
As the fifth largest county in Illinois, Kane County has both an urban corridor and a rural community. Despite the large agricultural presence, only six percent of produce consumed in Illinois is local. Members of the Kane County Plan4Health coalition have been working to address this for the past few years, and the Plan4Health grant has enabled them to continue moving the work forward and increase their focus on equity in access to nutritious food.
Learn more about the Kane County Plan4Health coalition in this Plan4Health blog post.
Watch a video of coalition member Matt Tansley discussing how Plan4health is increasing access to nutritious food in the community:
Learn more about Kane County in this video:
About the Author
Aliza Norcross is a project associate for APA's Planning and Community Health Center.
Image: Community garden in Kane County. Photo courtesy Kane County Plan4Health coalition.