When the Winds of November Come Early
After all that overtime summer weather we’ve had, today brought a full-on easterly gale to the Chicago shore of Lake Michigan. Sometimes it lives up to its reputation as an inland sea.
Tuesday: Increase Sales With Frozen Produce
There has long been a need for more production facilities that enable farmers to process and package their produce — a potentially profitable way for them to expand their customer bases and extend their seasons.
I’ve published extensively about the FarmFed Co-op that is under development in central Illinois. And tomorrow (Tuesday) at 6 p.m., you can attend a webinar that shines a light on a similar project in northern Illinois.
Hosted by McHenry County College (MCC) and its Center for Agrarian Learning, the webinar features Sybil Ege of The Business of Food — a business incubator in Sycamore, Illinois — which (among other things) has manufacturing capability that allows farmers to process and freeze produce, primarily sweet corn.
According to MCC:
Have you considered freezing farm produce to expand your sales season?
Since 2019, The Business of Food has helped local farmers develop ways to increase their sales and reduce waste. Their primary method has been by freezing sweet corn that is sold at farm stands both during and after the harvest season. This presentation will detail the program they offer, now in its third season, explain the process, what they have learned from a procedural and financial perspective and the vision for scaling the operation to increase access for additional farmers and freezing of different suitable crops.
Click below to register for this event TOMORROW.
Vote for Your Favorite Beginning Farmer!
Routes to Farm, a collaboration of farmer alliances in the Chicago region, is holding its annual Beginning Farmer of the Year competition. Voting is open through November 1 (that’s next Monday), and you can cast only one vote among the following candidates:
• Colleen Ruhter, That Little Farm in the Country, Sidney, Illinois (nominated by The Land Connection)
• Vanessa Quiñones, The Victory Garden Farm, Fredonia, Wisconsin (nominated by Angelic Organics Learning Center)
• Kwamena Jackson, BreathingRoom Gardens and Farm, Chicago, Illinois (nominated by Advocates for Urban Agriculture)
• Christine Johnson, Wild Trillium Farm, Richmond, Illinois (nominated by Illinois Stewardship Alliance)
All these farmers are wonderful and of course we don’t play favorites at Local Food Forum. That said, Christine Johnson has been a frequent contributor to Local Food Forum’s Seasons of Change farmer series; she is an active advocate with the Illinois Stewardship Alliance (of which I am a member) and its Local Food Farmer Caucus; and she is a leader in the effort to build a Northern Illinois Young Farmers Coalition affiliate.
Not promoting. Just sayin’…
The winner will receive a $1,000 cash prize.
Green City Market Webinar: More Soup For You
As that photo at the top makes clear, we are now firmly into soup season. Soup is really easy to make, but many people think it is hard to make. And as Auguste Escoffier — the famed French chef who helped create the culinary world as we know it — said, “Soup puts the heart at ease, calms down the violence of hunger, eliminates the tension of the day, and awakens and refines the appetite.”
All the more reason to register for the Healthy Soups and Stocks Class, presented on Instagram Live this Thursday (October 28) at 6:30 p.m., presented by Green City Market and Northwestern Medicine’s All of Us Research Program.
As described by Green City Market:
If you’re swapping tank tops for sweaters in your closet right about now, why not switch up your diet, too? We’re ready to say hello to the best of the Midwest autumn: crisp apples, earthy root veggies, and Brussels sprouts ready for the roastin’.
Join Green City Market and the All of Us Research Program for a Healthy Harvest soups and stocks cooking class on Thursday, October 28 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.!
Chef Lisa Kalabokis will be demoing how to prepare a stock and then make a fall squash and apple soup using your flavor-backed, homemade stock base. She’ll be joined by Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Vicki Shanta Retelny, who will be offering her expertise to help you shop with the seasons in a way that works best for your lifestyle.
The class is free to attend and will be hosted on Instagram Live — follow us on Instagram to get notified when we're live!
Plus, check out the ingredients list ahead of time and cook along with us and prep your kitchen (and your belly) for a cozy, healthy fall!
Stateline Farm Beginnings 2022: Apply by Sunday
Last but certainly not least, Stateline Farm Beginnings — a farmer training program led by Angelic Organics Learning Center — is accepting applications for its 2022 programming. I’ll let the program speak for itself.
Stateline Farm Beginnings® is a yearlong course, with 60+ contact hours of class time, designed to help launch or expand your farm business. The program has three courses: Farm Dreams Intensive, Skills Building Practicum, and Farm Business Intensive.
The first course begins in Winter by shaping your dream farm into a functional farm proposal and a personalized learning plan. During Spring and Summer, you’ll work with an experienced farmer in the region toward specified goals in your declared interests. In Autumn, we’ll focus on business development and finance budgeting, resulting in a business plan developed around your farm proposal.
Most sessions feature a regional farmer or expert panel segment, where you’ll hear first-hand experiences of innovators and professionals. Sessions feature a collaborative, group-learning space for creating lifelong friendships within a new farming network. Presenters include: farmers, university professionals, accountants, attorneys, Extension educators, USDA program personnel, insurance providers, bankers, and more.
Stateline Farm Beginnings® is open to anyone within the stateline area, including both rural and urban participants from Chicago, Rockford, Milwaukee, Madison, and everywhere in between.
BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and US Military Veteran community members are strongly encouraged to apply!