Local Food Forum

Winter can seem endless, but it's not. Spring is here, and Chicago's Green City Market is prepping to kick off the Chicago region's outdoor season two weeks from tomorrow (April 5) at its Lincoln Park flagship location. That also means that this Saturday (March 22) is the finale for Green City's indoor market in the Avondale neighborhood. Get the hybrid indoor/outdoor market schedule in this Local Food Forum article. As I've reported, this was a harsh winter for many local farmers, especially those who have been abruptly and unfairly hit with a freeze in contractually promised federal funding. So whenever and wherever you can, please support our farmers by buying local. https://lnkd.in/g9-KmFsz

Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT) is a Chicago-based non-profit that has had a big impact for more than four decades by pressing for more humane and healthful treatment of farmed livestock. In recent years, under the leadership of Executive Director Harry Rhodes, the organization has leveled up its impact with its annual Farm-a-Funder grants. Since 2012 FACT has awarded 764 grants to farmers totaling over $1,580,000 to improve farm animal welfare, expand humane farming, and support capital and operational work. FACT has just released the list of its 72 farms that will share in a fund of almost $220,000. This Local Food Forum article has the list of farms by name and location and FACT categories. There is a link to visit the FACT website and get the details of each of the projects. Also please note that the grantees span the nation. Local Food Forum's goal is to expand our content beyond our home base in the Chicago region so we all can?learn about farmers all over who are using sustainable, humane and fair practices and so we can better connect with other local food ecosystems. Please take a look. https://lnkd.in/gmem6Vpa

On March 10, Local Food Forum published an article about how Marty and MariKate Thomas of Kakadoodle Farm in Matteson, Illinois were persevering in the face of twin crises: an avian flu outbreak that costs them their flock of chickens, and a federal funding freeze on reimbursements to farmers who had laid out significant sums of their own money under contracts with USDA. Despite the setbacks, Marty's essay had a optimistic tone about a future with a more localized and self-sufficient food system. He received some feedback, though, from people who thought he was suggesting that small farmers could eschew government assistance. This prompted Marty to write a follow-up to clarify his position, which is published in this Local Food Forum article. There is a link to the original article and another link to email your comments on this important issue. https://lnkd.in/g9ZaUi3u

Oyster lovers packed The Publican restaurant in Chicago's Fulton Market District on March 12 for its Oyster Shuck Off. The popularity of the event produced $4,000 in proceeds for The Giving Kitchen , a nonprofit organization that provides emergency assistance to food service workers through financial support and a network of community resources. The delicious and values-forward event also celebrated Women's History Month by having five leading women culinary artists — sommelier extraordinaire Belinda Chang, Tigist Reda of Demera Ethiopian Restaurant, Diana Davila Boldin of Mi Tocaya Antojeria, Dana Cree of Pretty Good Ice Cream and Sarah Stegner of Prairie Grass Cafe — help out shucking the oysters. They joined award-winning Chef Paul Kahan, a founder and the executive chef of the One Off Hospitality Group, which includes The Publican. We write often about the generosity of our chef community, and Paul has long been in the forefront through his co-founding of the groundbreaking Pilot Light food education non-profit and his support of organizations such as Chicago Chefs Cook and The Evolved Network NFP. Learn more about The Giving Kitchen and enjoy fun photos of the event. https://lnkd.in/gV2_7KAe

Last week, Local Food Forum published an article about Kakadoodle Farm — which has been hit with a double whammy of an avian flu outbreak and federal funding freeze —and owner Marty Thomas' optimistic vision of a future with a more self-sufficient local food ecosystem that is less dependent on government assistance. We received a response from Harry Rhodes, executive director of Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT) and a longtime leader in the food non-profit community. Harry differs with Marty on some key points about the need for government aid. His commentary is published in its entirety in this article on the Local Food Forum website. It has also been a goal of Local Food Forum to be a platform for civil and respectful discussion of key issues affecting our community. We thank Harry for his contribution. https://lnkd.in/gtZ3rbi3

Chicago-area gardeners, rejoice! Chicago Tomato Man, aka Bob Zeni, has opened his e-commerce site for his astounding variety of tomato plant starters. When you place an order, you'll choose from among a range of locations around Chicago metro to pick up your starter plants from late April through early June. This is also good news for tomato lovers who don't grow their own. If you want to become a true tomato-ficionado, you will enjoy browsing the 187 (!) types of tomatoes — in all kinds of shapes, sizes, colors and sometimes fanciful names — that Chicago Tomato Man has listed to sell for the 2025 season. This Local Food Forum article has a link to visit Chicago Tomato Man's website... and details about the fun Tomatopalooza event that he has planned for April 26. https://lnkd.in/gunub8h5

Sorry about the short notice, but if you believe the Illinois government should increase its institutional purchases of healthy, sustainable local food, then you may want to take an hour out of your Monday to participate in this event. The Action Huddle to Rally Around the Good Food Purchasing Law, presented by Illinois Food Justice Alliance, takes place online tomorrow (Monday, March 17) at noon central time. It precedes by one day a hearing by the state House Agriculture & Conservation Committee on House Bill 3701, which would create a requirement that the state's institutional food buyers — including veterans homes, hospitals, universities, schools, and prisons — increase their purchases from local farms and businesses. This Local Food Forum article has details, and urges you to support this important measure. https://lnkd.in/gq6HzAvC

Don't get me wrong, I love the local produce that is available over the winter, whether it's storage crops such as winter squash and apples or season-extension greens grown in hoophouses. But by mid-March, I'm longing for warmer weather and the awesome variety of local vegetables and fruit that spring, winter and fall will bring. So I was pleasantly surprised this past week when friend Tracey Vowell at her Three Sisters Garden farm in Kankakee, Illinois announced that green garlic — one of the most beloved early spring crops — had made a very early arrival. This Local Food Forum article has some background about what green garlic is, its unexpected mid-March appearance, and some tips from Tracey about how to use it. https://lnkd.in/gJU7gxFt

We had a dose of springlike temperatures the past couple of days in Chicago. And this old man's thoughts turned to the start of the outdoor farmers market season... which is sooner than you may think. This Local Food Forum article tells you which market is kicking things off on April 5, and where the other three April openings are. https://lnkd.in/gu84xGmA Chicago's Green City Market Grayslake Farmers Market FRANKFORT COUNTRY MARKET, INC.

Local Food Forum has published multiple articles about the critical and possibly devastating impact on Illinois farmers whose promised federal reimbursements, for work they did under the IL-EATS program, have been frozen by the administration in Washington, D.C. But it is very important to note that the Local Food Purchasing Assistance (LFPA) cooperative agreement — which funds IL-EATS through the Illinois Department of Agriculture — is not the only program subject to abrupt funding suspensions and terminations... and that the impacts are not just in Illinois, but nationwide. For example, USDA announced this week that it was terminating a program, created toward the end of the Biden administration, established to fund purchases of food from local farmers by schools and food banks. In addition — as reported by National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC), the federal policy advocate for sustainable farming — billions of dollars in payments have been suspended in these longstanding programs. This Local Food Forum article summarizes NSAC's finding, with a link to read the full article (which I highly recommend). https://lnkd.in/g4-7CzJR