IDOA policy adviser recognizes food as a vehicle to build strong communities

CHICAGO — Dakarai Howard focuses on urban agriculture and food systems as the senior policy adviser for the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

“This position didn’t exist until last year when I joined the department,” said Howard during a presentation at the Chicago Farmers meeting. “I’m the only Chicago-based employee for IDOA.”

Howard, who was raised on Chicago’s South Side, graduated with a degree in agricultural economics from the University of Kentucky.

“I started off studying art studio, but I didn’t feel inspired so I was about ready to withdraw,” he said. “But my adviser said I should check out the College of Agriculture.”

When he completed his degree, Howard returned to Chicago and worked for the Windy City Harvest program at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

“I was the farm manager working with 17 youth to teach them how to grow and market produce,” he said.

After spending two years in Colombia with the Peace Corps, Howard returned home to Chicago and worked at the Food Policy Action Council.

“I was doing similar work with smaller farmers to figure out ways they could sell to wholesale markets,” he said.

There is a key difference between food deserts and food apartheid, Howard stressed.

“People say a food desert is an area that doesn’t have grocery stores or nutritionally-dense foods, but that gives deserts a bad name,” he said. “Deserts are naturally occurring, but not having a grocery store is not naturally occurring — it’s built on economic disinvestment and socially disadvantaged communities and that’s food apartheid.”

Howard is excited about the way IDOA is acknowledging some of the disparities in the food system.

“The Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program looks at ways to provide infrastructure and equipment to support food systems,” he said. “We conducted 30 listening sessions throughout the state and we spoke with about 300 farmers and stakeholders.”

Youth engagement is an area that is important to Howard.

“I go around the state to speak at schools, universities and youth development organizations,” he said. “It’s really important to identify ways we can connect to young people and grow from youth outreach to youth empowerment.”

Internships have benefits, Howard said, but mentors are a really good way to support youth empowerment.

“Mentors help youth get experience speaking to decision-makers,” he said. “And mentors help usher youth into the space and validates their presence in that space.”

Howard is quite familiar with the Minorities in Agriculture National Resources and Related Sciences, or MANRRS, group.

“That’s a program I got involved in as an undergrad and it supports students to find pathways for careers in agriculture, natural resources and related sciences,” the senior policy adviser said.

“There are middle school, high school, collegiate and professional chapters,” he said. “When I was in college, MANRRS gave me an opportunity to go to Argentina and that was my first ag experience.”

IDOA is working with both the University of Chicago and Loyola University Chicago.

“The University of Chicago has a policy showcase event and I judged some of the students in the program,” Howard said. “The students took bills currently on the floor and did analysis and made suggestions to make the bills better.”

“It was really impressive to see what the young people came up with for policy strategies,” the senior policy adviser said.

“At Loyola, they have a food systems and urban ag course where they have a lot of robust conversations about putting resources back to communities around food systems,” he said.

To address issues for historically underserved communities in the food sector, Howard said, IDOA established an Agriculture Equity Commission.

“It brings together stakeholders of nonprofit organizations, legislators, educators, business owners and historically underserved growers to ensure equity in the state’s top job producing industry,” Howard said.

“The department’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Committee works to identify strategies we can implement and to make sure our staff has resources to build culture competency,” he said. “We work with diverse populations so we need food systems with culturally relevant foods.”

The Community Food Navigator is a community forum for farmers.

“It is a place for people to talk about policy development, how to engage youth or to ask for volunteers,” Howard said. “I encourage folks to connect with this forum.”

“Agriculture is present all around us,” he stressed. “I got into agriculture because I recognized how food is a vehicle for health, economics, cultural systems and an avenue to build a strong community.”