Finn's Ranch Fire Prompts Fundraiser
How to help one of our local farms, plus what's new at SOAR Farmers Market
Melons Hit the Market
As I walked that crosswalk to enter SOAR Farmers Market in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood this morning, they were the first things I saw: local melons (from Nichols Farm and Orchard in Marengo, Illinois) have hit the market. On the left are Sugar Cube mini-cantaloupes; on the right, family-size watermelons.
I’ll have more from the market, but first something serious. Learn about the devastating fire that has hit one of our most beloved meat vendors and find out how you can help.
Fundraiser to Help Finn’s Recover From Fire
Even in a community filled with the best people, the folks from Finn’s Ranch in Buchanan, Michigan are among the nicest. So I was jolted to learn that the livestock farm suffered major losses in a fire. Details, and how you can contribute to help Finn’s Ranch recover, follow.
The fire, seen above, occurred on June 4, but is has so crippled the farm’s operations that the owners shared the news only within the past few days. Fortunately no people or animals lost their lives, but Finn’s Ranch incurred the following damage.
• The farm lost all of the inventory — half of their annual volume — that was stored in freezers that were located in the sheds that burned to the ground.
• All of the farm’s tools, vehicles and supplies were also destroyed.
You can read the full story on the Green City Market website by clicking the second button below (Finn’s is a longtime Green City vendor). But most importantly, please click the first button to make a donation to the fund set up to help Finn’s Ranch recover.
Green City has kick-started the process with a $5,000 Crisis Response Award from its Farm Forward Fund, but the folks at Finn’s need much more to get back on their feet. Please help if you can.
Three Illinois Programs Get USDA Farm to School $
We’ll segue back with some good news. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that three Illinois organizations are receiving a total of nearly $300,000 in Farm to School grants to help increase the amount of fresh local food available to the state’s schoolchildren. Special congrats to Gardeneers — the school gardening and food education program that works on Chicago’s South and West sides — with which I have a long connection dating to my early days at FamilyFarmed.
Here’s the news in the USDA’s own words.
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced it is awarding more than $10 million in Farm to School Grants to 123 projects across the country. Additionally, for the first time, the department is empowering states with $60 million in non-competitive grants to develop stronger and sustainable Farm to School programs over the next four years. Both actions will help more kids nationwide eat healthy, homegrown foods.
In Illinois, we’re awarding three grants:
Gardeneers - $ 98,501
Chicago, Illinois
Grant Type: Implementation
Gardeneers works with Chicago’s South and West side schools to contribute to the larger food system through school garden and farm programs. Gardeneers' full-service, customized school garden programs supports students to build their own knowledge, skills, and habits to become leaders who care for themselves, their environment, and their communities. Gardeneers programming is led by Garden Educators and is built on three pillars of learning that supports student nutrition, allows students to experience nature in their own background, and connects them with their communities to help meet a resource need by providing locally grown produce to their peers and their families through weekly farm stands and garden events. This collective work brings fresh, healthy produce into school communities faced by food inequity; it grows future leaders in the food justice movement.
Sola Gratia Farm - $ 100,000
Urbana, Illinois
Grant Type: Implementation
Sola Gratia Farm (SGF), in collaboration with Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD) and Urbana School District 116 (USD116), will implement the Farm to School Action Plan created by the USD116 F2S Steering Committee. The Action Plan addresses equitable food and nutrition education access in the district, where an average of 65% of students are considered low-income, by advancing local procurement efforts, expanding agricultural education opportunities, and providing opportunities for community collaboration. SGF, CUPHD, and the Steering Committee will be establishing Farm to School-specific personnel infrastructure in USD116, including hiring a district-wide F2S coordinator and school garden coordinators, developing of new teaching and local-foods resources, and expansion of procurement opportunities in classrooms and cafeterias.
The Trotter Project - $ 100,000
Saint Charles, Illinois
Grant Type: Implementation
The Trotter Project will grow free, fresh fruit and vegetables to 1) use interactive urban farming to support Farm to School programming, 2) feed students, families, and residents in Chicago's underserved Austin and Englewood communities, and 3) teach students and families tools for healthy eating. This begins with the expansion of their urban farming program with the addition of a hydroponic freight farm and adjacent seed to soil garden, as well as 5 indoor hydroponic farm-stands. Farming and produce will support expanded farm to school educational programming in two partner schools in far South and West side neighborhoods of Chicago. The curriculum includes addition of in-school culinary arts/agriculture education courses, monthly presentations, culinary summer camps and quarterly sessions with guest educators. The Trotter Project’s mission is to “Sow, Grow, Eat, Educate” to create pathways for food security and urban farming through successful, scalable and replicable programming.
Farm to School increases the amount of locally produced foods served through child nutrition programs, while also educating children about how their foods are harvested and made. Various child nutrition operators can participate in farm to school, from states and tribal nations to schools and community organizations.
Comings and Goings at SOAR Market
I’m doing the market haul a little differently today. The crowded photo above is made up of products that are fully in season, coming online or otherwise readily available here in late July. Going clockwise from the upper center, there’s zucchini, eggplant and sweet corn from Smits Farms (Chicago Heights, Illinois), from whom I also got my first green peppers of the season; green beans from Noffke Family Farms of Berrien Springs, Michigan; tofu salad from Phoenix Bean Tofu (Chicago); garlic and cherry tomatoes from Land’s End Farm (Lowell, Indiana); Australian bacon from Finn’s Ranch (you can help them with your purchases too); and a sugar cube melon from Nichols.
I separated out these apricots from Noffke and sweet cherries from Ellis Family Farms because these are crops that are nearing the end of their seasons. Get them while you can.
And these aren’t just blueberry cheese danish from Bennison’s Bakery (Evanston, Illinois). These are Barb’s birthday danish. She thought it was fine way to start her birthday.
Have a great day.
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