In this issue:
• Local Food Forum is Officially Launched
• Farmers Market Up-dates: Green City Opens May 1
• Easter: A Ham Steak Will Do for a Few
• Take a Quiz
Local Food Forum Dawned on Me
OK, so I like a good play on words.
Welcome to the official launch of Local Food Forum. Thanks to everyone who provided positive feedback and helpful suggestions on the pre-launch issues, many thanks to those of you who have shown your interest in local food by signing up for free subscriptions, and many blessings on our founding paid subscribers. I hope to provide many, many blessings in the days to come.
Yesterday, March 31, I finished up my time at FamilyFarmed. I will be forever grateful for the opportunity the organization provided to this new kid in town, which enabled me to have some influence in the community effort to build a better food system and to create a network of awesome world-changing people across the local food spectrum.
Now onward. Local Food Forum will provide tons of information about how to find, buy and use locally produced food, focused on our home Chicago area (but wide open to input from local food advocates elsewhere). Each Monday there will be pretty photos of what’s in season and a listing of the week’s farmers markets. Our articles will introduce you to amazing folks who are doing the real work to create a healthier and more sustainable food system. There will be recipes, events listings, and fun stuff like food trivia.
The idea here is to bring the many elements of our community together, because there is strength in numbers. This is also why a paid subscription is a win-win: It entitles you to post comments, share ideas and recipes, and enjoy members-only benefits that I’ll be announcing soon. Such a bargain for just $50/year or $5/month.
As I said in a social media post last night, Local Food Forum will be informative, inspiring, and the most fun you've had with food since your mom told you to stop playing with it. Please join me on this wild ride.
— Bob Benenson
Farmers Market Opening Dates
Breaking News: Green City May 1 Opening is Official
What is April 1, besides April Fool’s Day (and the official launch of Local Food Forum)? It is exactly one month until the on-time opening of the Chicago-area farmers market season. And breaking news: Green City Market has officially posted that it will maintain its tradition of opening its main (Lincoln Park) site on the first Saturday in May (joined by the Downtown Evanston Farmers Market) and — unlike last year’s COVID-plagued season — will be open on both Saturdays and Wednesdays.
Here is what we know so far. And if I oopsed on your local market, please send a note to bob@localfoodforum.com and let me know. Just be kind.
Saturday, May 1
Green City Market Lincoln Park (Saturday)
Downtown Evanston Farmers Market
Wednesday, May 5
Green City Market Lincoln Park (Wednesday)
Sunday, May 9
Wednesday, May 12
Saturday, May 15
Saturday, May 22
Saturday, May 29
South Loop Farmers Market Printer’s Row
Tuesday, June 1
SOAR Farmers Market (Streeterville)
Thursday, June 3
Saturday, June 5
Sunday, June 6
Sunday, June 13
Jefferson Park Farmers Market (tentative)
Thursday, June 17
South Loop Farmers Market Prairie District
Friday, June 18
Gary Comer Youth Center Farmers Market
Easter: A Ham Steak Will Do for a Few
Alas, the pandemic continues, and though it looks like the vaccines provide a light at the end of the tunnel, big family gatherings for Easter are not in vogue for a second year. No matter what the family traditions are, if you’re having a slimmed-down holiday, you probably don’t want to get a big ham unless you want to be eating it for days.
Fortunately, there are a number of local pasture-raised pork producers who have ham steaks for sale. The steak in the photo came from Russell Road Farm in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin via Village Farmstand in Evanston, Illinois. Weighing in at about two pounds, it could easily feed four or more. I just applied a simple maple-mustard glaze for the last few minutes of cooking in a cast-iron grill pan, which accounts for the gridmarks.
I served it with a roasted butternut squash-apple dish. Peel a squash; halve, seed and cube it; lightly coat with vegetable oil; and put in a preheated 375 degree oven. After about a half-hour, add two cored and diced apples (I leave the peels on). Test and when almost done, add a light coating of maple syrup and a sprinkle of cinnamon.
And Happy Easter to those of you celebrating. Hopefully you’ll be able to do it with family and friends and one big old whole ham next year.
Take a Quiz
Answer at end (don’t peek)
According to the Foodimentary site, April 1 is what National Food Day?
a) National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day
b) National Sourdough Bread Day
c) National Intermittent Fasting Day
d) National Bloody Mary with a Fried Chicken Garnish Day
Answer: b). While a lot of National Food Days are seriously dubious, April 1 actually salutes a product that many local food advocates want to eat: sourdough bread. Bonus points if the bread is made from one of the growing number of sustainably produced grain farms in the region; to learn more, visit the Artisan Grain Collaborative website.
If you answered a), you were close: National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day is April 2. Answer d) is just wrong.
Spring Is Springing
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Officially launching this on MLB Opening Day and April Fool's Day is maybe the greatest set of coincidences in the history of coincidences.