News & Updates

Chicago Sun Times Letter to the Editor by Dr. Dave Nayak: Pass legislation to help farmers, food banks do more to fight hunger

We should also create the Illinois Food Rescue Authority, a business-to-business logistical platform for delivering otherwise discarded, perfectly usable food to food banks, pantries and charities.

The impact of ending emergency SNAP benefits cannot be understated. It is likely to increase hunger by 10% — around 4 million more Americans suffering food insecurity.

As the founder of Nayak Farms in Gardner, Illinois, I am committed to providing fresh produce to Illinois food banks and pantries. In 2022, the Nayak Farms Food Insecurity Initiative fed over 100,000 people. We grew, harvested, packaged and delivered our farm produce to food banks, distributing to thousands of food pantries and soup kitchens. And our goal for 2023 is to feed more than 250,000 Illinoisans suffering from hunger.

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Volunteers with Nayak Farms help prep corn donations with the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

FB member ‘humbled and honored’ to attend White House conference

Sharing ideas with national and even global leaders who fight hunger “energized” a new Grundy County farm owner who donated his first sweet corn July 28.

Two months after making that first delivery, Dr. David Nayak, a Chicago physician, participated in the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health. Nayak Farms has donated tens of thousands of pounds of fresh sweet corn to food banks across Illinois and continues harvesting sweet corn. Nayak declined to estimate how many pounds have been donated, adding with a chuckle he didn’t want to tempt fate.

“We believe food is medicine,” the doctor said of his fellow conference participants. It was humbling to share stories and learn from and collaborate with others, he added.

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Dr. David Nayak, left, spoke with Massachusetts U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern during the White House on Hunger, Nutrition and Health. Speaking with McGovern was among the highlights for the Kendall-Grundy Farm Bureau member whose fresh produce donations were recognized. (Photo by David Nayak)

Nayak Farms Recognized at White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition & Health

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.

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Nayak Farms’ sweet corn gift shines spotlight on Quad Cities hungry

By QCJB News Staff – September 20, 2022

River Bend Food Bank recently received its share of more than 100,000 pounds of fresh sweet corn that the Illinois-based Nayak Farms has donated to help feed the food insecure in Illinois and Iowa.

The bushels of corn came in even as River Bend and hunger-relief organizations and agencies across America are observing Hunger Action Month by spreading the nationwide campaign’s central message: “Food shouldn’t be an impossible choice.”

Orange is the color of hunger according to Feeding America and each September’s annual Hunger Action Month offers communities the opportunity to raise awareness of the impossible choices children and adults experiencing food insecurity face every day. During the week of Sept. 19-25 – which includes Hunger Action Day on Friday, Sept. 23 –  the Davenport Skybridge is wearing bright orange lights to show community support of the Food Bank and Hunger Action Month. 

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Illinois farm donates more than 7,000 pounds of corn to River Bend Food Bank

By KWQC Staff

Published: Sep. 15, 2022 at 2:58 PM CDT

DAVENPORT, Iowa (KWQC) – The River Bend Food Bank received a special delivery this week from an Illinois farm designed to give back to others.

The Nayak Farms Sweet Corn Initiative was created to tackle food insecurity in the Midwest by donating large amounts of fresh, delicious, sweet corn to the States of Illinois and Iowa, according to a media release.

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NAYAK FARMS FEATURED IN FarmWeekNow

“Grundy County farm delivering on goal to impact lives”

Nayak Farms is working with Feeding Illinois to donate fresh sweet corn to food banks as part of the Farms to Food Bank initiative. Initiative partners include Illinois Farm Bureau, Illinois Specialty Growers Association, Illinois Farmers Market Association, University of Illinois Extension and the Prairie Research Institute’s Illinois Sustainable Technology Center.

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Sweet Corn Initiative Update

Hear from Dr. Dave with the latest progress on the Nayak Farms Sweet Corn Initiative!

Featured on IlCorn.org

Nayak Farms | A farm-based on innovation and giving

Dr. Nayak founded the Strength to Love foundation that passionately believes that all human beings have the universal rights to livery, food, shelter, clothing, healthcare, education and work.  From that foundation, Nayak Farms was born. Farmland currently in Gardner, Illinois – farmed by a tenant of Dr. Nayak. One of the main goals of this farm is to help logistically coordinate the largest donation of sweet corn in Illinois hoping to also be a model to other sweet corn farmers…

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