Let’s Get This Straight
We visited FEW Spirits in Evanston Friday evening to help celebrate the 10th anniversary of the first distillery in the Chicago suburb — the long-ago hub of Prohibitionist activism. This is a straight pour of FEW’s limited-edition four-grain 10th anniversary bourbon. Tastes as good as it looks.
Scroll down for more photos below. All photos © 2021 Bob Benenson/Local Food Forum.
LINK Up Illinois Job Opening: Work in Food Access
LINK Up Illinois is a nonprofit program that provides Link Match funds to recipients of Illinois’ LINK food assistance program (the state agency that manages federal SNAP benefits). These funds enable individuals who are challenged to access healthy produce to stock up at farmers markets, farm stands and other participating retailers.
If you have an interest in advancing the important issue of food access, LINK Up Illinois is posting a job opening for a fulltime Program Associate. The posting is republished below with a link to apply.
LINK Up Illinois is a program of Experimental Station, which also runs the 61st Street Farmers Market, open Saturdays near University of Chicago in the Woodlawn neighborhood. To learn more about the market, check out the September 28 issue of Local Food Forum.
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LINK Up Illinois Job Posting
We’re Hiring: Full-time Link Up Illinois Program Associate
Are you enthusiastic about cultivating food justice in Illinois? Are you eager to make healthy, local, farm-fresh foods more accessible? Do you have a passion for connecting farmers to small- and mid-sized grocery stores?
If so, then apply here and join our team!
The Experimental Station fosters a dynamic ecology of innovative educational and cultural programs, small business enterprises and community initiatives. Since 2006, we have both built our own programming to address local needs and have fostered, hosted, and sponsored many other initiatives. Current programs include Link Up Illinois, 61st Street Farmers Market, Blackstone Bicycle Works, small business incubation, and public arts and cultural events.
We are currently seeking a Link Up Illinois Program Associate who will be central to supporting operations of Link Up Illinois as we continue to grow.
Link Up Illinois provides farmers markets, farm stands, food co-operatives, and small grocers across the state with funding to implement Link Match programs for recipients of Illinois Link (federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits). Link Match is a healthy food incentive earned by SNAP/Link participants whenever they make a purchase at participating locations. The incentive is distributed on a 1:1 matching basis, thereby doubling the buying power of the SNAP shopper. Link Match can then be used to buy fresh fruits and vegetables at these locations.
As the Link Up Illinois Program Associate, you will:
Management and Administrative Duties
• Provide consistent communication with program partners to build and strengthen Link Up Illinois’ statewide network of farmers markets, direct-to-producer venues, corner stores, and independent grocers offering Link Match. • Connect local farmers with resources and opportunities to sell their products at Link Up Illinois partner venues. • Provide training and technical support to partner markets and other venues. • Work with partner markets and venues to ensure timely and accurate completion of partner grant applications and contracts. • Track program progress and ensure the program meets grant milestones.
Quantitative Duties
• Track and input data from partner markets and venues. • Provide data to the Senior Program Manager for grant reporting and fundraising. Preferred skills and experience: • Have experience in food access work. • Be a people person and interested in data collection and evaluation. • Enjoy collaborating with a team.
Strong candidates may have experience in project management, program management, office administration, or small business ownership. Candidates who have ample experience in public speaking and data input are encouraged to apply.
This is a full-time position with a salary of $42-45k commensurate with experience. Experimental Station offers health benefits (contributing 50%) for full-time employees and paid time off.
Experimental Station is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome people with a wide range of skills and experiences to apply. To apply, visit https://forms.gle/ExxL73JnBXhCvWio8.
The deadline to apply is October 29th, 2021.
More About FEW
You’d have to know a few things about FEW Spirits to find its distillery. Since its 2011 opening, it has been located at 918 Chicago Avenue, a main drag in suburban Evanston… but its actual location is in a former auto repair shop up an alley.
A bottle display inside the distillery. The bottles up front contain the special 10th anniversary bourbon; behind is FEW’s flagship Straight Bourbon Whiskey. The artwork on its labels represents Chicago’s famed Columbian Exposition in 1893, which also was the heyday of Frances E. Willard, a Northwestern University instructor and prohibitionist who led the Women’s Christian Temperance Union for many years. The distillery’s name is a double entendre, as FEW are Willard’s initials.
The Inventors, a local band, performed at FEW’s 10th Anniversary Party on October 1. Trains on the CTA’s Purple Line pass by frequently on the tracks up the berm immediately behind FEW.