On September 28th in Washington D.C., Nayak Farms of Gardner, Illinois was recognized at the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health (WHCHNH) for their dedication and pledge to tackling food insecurity in Illinois and the Midwest. The invite-only WHCHNH is the first conference in over 50 years since President Nixon’s White House Conference on Food, Nutrition and Health to unify Americans around the goal of ending hunger and reducing diet-related disease by 2030.
As the largest private donor of sweet corn to the State of Illinois, Nayak Farms has donated thousands of pounds of sweet corn to the major Illinois food banks to help fight food insecurity through its inaugural harvest with their Sweet Corn Initiative. The Nayak Farms’ Sweet Corn Initiative intends to tackle food-insecurity in the State of Illinois by donating large amounts of fresh sweet corn to Illinois Food Banks. At the Conference, Nayak Farms was recognized for their commitment for large crop donations to the State of Illinois and Midwest in the upcoming years and also for our work on supporting local and state policies to support farmers in tackling food insecurity.
“Today, the White House announces a historic package of new actions that business, civic, academic, and philanthropic leaders will take to end hunger and reduce diet-related disease. Pillar 1-Improve Food Access and Affordability. NAYAK FARMS: Nayak Farms, a 200-acre farm in Illinois, will work to combat food-insecurity in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, and Iowa. This includes donating over 1,000,000 pounds of sweet corn to food-insecure families in those four states by 2026; donating 50,000 pounds of green beans to food-insecure families in 2023 and 2024; and championing local and state policies that can support farmers in combating food insecurity.” White House Briefing Room Statement & Release, September 28, 2022
“We at Nayak Farms are honored to be recognized at the White House Conference on Hunger, Food and Nutrition. Nayak Farms is deeply committed to tackling food-insecurity in Illinois and throughout the Midwest. Many families do not know where their next meal may come from and it brings us tremendous joy to donate our sweet corn and green beans to feed those who are in need. Further, we hope that the model we have created will help incentivize more farmers throughout our wonderful state and beyond to donate a portion of their land to help address food-insecurity. Because at the end of the day, we all have an inherent responsibility to be a good neighbor to those around us in our communities,” said Dr. Dave Nayak of Nayak Farms.
Dr. Dave Nayak, splits his time between his farm in Gardner, Illinois and Chicago, Illinois where he also operates The Strength to Love Foundation and the Strength to Love Asthma & Allergy Free Clinic. He is passionate toward fighting food insecurity with the goal of implementing policy change at the state level, something he has already accomplished in Illinois.
Nayak Farms is a proud member of Illinois Corn Growers Association, Illinois Farm Bureau and Illinois Soybean Association.
For more information, please visit Nayak Farms on Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, LinkedIn or at www.NayakFarms.com.