A Co-op Ending a Food Desert, and Turkey Time
My latest two Buy Fresh Buy Local articles, a hospital(!) scan, and paid subscriptions
Building Back Food Access in Cairo, Illinois
My two latest Buy Fresh Buy Local Illinois articles were kind of back to back, so I am sharing them both here.
To mark National Co-op Month in October, we shared the uplifting story of Rise Community Market in Cairo (pronounced KAY-row), located at the southern tip of Illinois.
Rise Community Market isn’t a typical co-op. Cairo has suffered mightily from economic and population decline, and the city was a food desert — the nearest store selling food was eight miles away, and a full service market was 30 miles.
Rise opened this past June as the first grocery store in Cairo since late 2015, restoring food and hope to the once-thriving city.
Treat Family and Guests to a Locally Grown Turkey
It’s Turkey Time! If you want to make your family and guests very, very happy on Thanksgiving 2023, you should get a superb turkey produced by a local Illinois farmer.
Buy Fresh Buy Local Illinois is pleased to present a list, in alphabetical order, of Illinois turkey farms with their locations, websites (as available) and contact information. They also invite you to utilize their Buy Fresh Buy Local Illinois Directory to locate turkey farms in your area!
Want to Lift My Spirits? (I Could Use It)
Well, November sure hasn’t been great so far.
My wife Barb started the month with what at first seemed a bad cold. Her COVID test was negative, but she felt miserable, had a wracking cough, and wasn’t getting better.
So on Tuesday, we went to her primary care doctor nearby, he sent her to the emergency room, and they diagnosed pneumonia and checked her into the hospital. I can say with great gratitude that it is a mild case, and Barb surprised me first thing this morning with the news that she was making enough progress that they were sending her home after just two days with meds.
They cautioned that she may not feel great for five days. Five days from now is November 14, which happens to be my birthday, and if Barb is back to good health, I can’t think of a better birthday present.
In the meantime, you can help make my November at least a bit better by considering getting or upgrading to a paid subscription to Local Food Forum. I truly need more paid subscribers to get this project closer to being self-sustaining. And to make it not all about me, I’ve pledged to donate 20 percent of all proceeds to pediatric cancer at Lurie Children’s Hospital.
Thanks to those new paid subscribers who have push the fundraiser past the $50 mark, but jeez, I think we could do a lot better than that. I hope you’ll consider proving me right.
Hospital Phone Scam? What Won’t They Stoop To?
There was one bit of unpleasantry at St. Joseph Hospital that I want to bring to attention, because I wasn’t aware about this wrinkle in scam artist scumbaggery.
Barb had barely settled into her room on Tuesday when the room’s landline phone rang. I picked it up, there was a pause, and then a heavily accented voice said, “Medicare services.” I rolled my eyes and hung up.
Minutes later, the phone rang again. This time I let it ring out while I searched for the button to turn down the ringer volume. And, again. Finally, the fourth call within maybe 15 minutes was answered by the visiting physician. She tried to engage the caller on what they wanted, got a puzzled look and hung up.
At that point, she unplugged the phone from the wall outlet. Since Barb has a cell phone, of course, the only use for the landline phone anyway was to call in Barb’s food orders, so the phone was plugged in briefly at times for that purpose.
Now remember, these phones are not direct lines — callers have to ask for a room number. So unless this is an inside job or the hospital’s admissions have been hacked, there’s no reason to guess that the patient is a senior. So are these assclowns just randomly asking for room numbers and harassing patients?
I have no idea what can be done about this kind of thing, and if it’s common or it was just Barb’s unlucky day in more ways than one. But I have nothing but ill will for anyone who pulls a stunt like this.
This Weekend’s Outdoor and Indoor Markets
Add L&A Sunday
Thanks, Cliff. Won't be able to get out to the farm over the next couple of weeks. But let me know if you have any left after the holiday. Hopefully my schedule will ease up one of these days.
Hi Bob thanks for the photo credit on those beautiful bronze turkeys! I will save one for you if you want to stop out at the farm in the next couple of weeks. Give my best to Barb on a speedy recovery.