The new State Director for USDA Rural Development is on the job. Pam Monetti is from Bunker Hill in Macoupin County. She was in Carterville late last week visiting, Food Works, which received a $168,000 grant to help purchase a food truck to serve as a mobile farmers’ market.

Food products from 14 local Illinois farms and small businesses will be sold through this mobile market in exchange for a small weekly fee, thus allowing the farms and businesses to expand their markets and increase their revenue.