In This Issue
• Local Food Forum on the Mike Nowak Show Sunday
• This Weekend’s Farmers Markets
• Nonprofit Events and Jobs
• Take a Quiz
Local Food Forum’s on The Mike Nowak Show with Peggy Malecki!
My passion for local food and farmers markets has not gone unnoticed. I am pleased to announce that I will be a guest, talking about my favorite subjects, on The Mike Nowak Show with Peggy Malecki, live-streamed Sunday, 9:00-11:00 a.m central. You can find the show at https://mikenowak.net as well as on Facebook and Periscope (Twitter).
I will participate in the 10 a.m. hour. Please also tune in at 9 a.m. when the featured guest will be Nancy Lawson, author of The Humane Gardener. The book includes “detailed and inspirational chapters” that “address planting for wildlife by choosing native species; providing habitats that shelter baby animals, including the young of birds, bees, and butterflies; creating gardens free of poisons and other common hazards; cohabiting with creatures often regarded as pests; letting nature be your garden designer; and welcoming natural processes and seasonal changes.”
I collaborated with Mike, a veteran journalist, and Peggy, publisher of Natural Awakenings Chicago, during my previous Good Food work at FamilyFarmed. Their show is about gardening, green living and the environment, and they are strong supporters of a better, more local food system.
Your Guide to This Weekend’s Farmers Market
A handy reminder of the Chicago metro farmers markets that are operating this weekend. Still early in the season, but plenty of delicious, healthy, sustainably produced LOCAL food to be had.
If you visit a market, take some photos and share them with Local Food Forum at bob@localfoodforum.com. We’ll publish a selection on Sunday… along with our own from our planned Saturday visit to the Downtown Evanston Farmers Market.
(Click market name for website, and address for map)
Saturday, May 8
Downers Grove Farmers Market, 5001 Main St., Downers Grove
7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Downtown Evanston Farmers Market, 1800 Maple Ave., Evanston
7 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Grayslake Farmers Market, 201 Center St., Grayslake
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Green City Market Lincoln Park, 1817 N. Clark St., Chicago
7 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Homewood Farmers Market, 18020 Martin Ave., Homewood
8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Kankakee Farmers Market, S. Schuyler Ave. & Merchant St., Kankakee
8 a.m. to noon
Palatine Farmers Market, Smith and Wood Sts. (Train Station), Palatine
7 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Park Forest Farmers Market, 152 Main St., Park Forest
7 a.m to noon
The Lincoln Park Farmers Market, 2001 N. Orchard St., Chicago
7 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Woodstock Farmers Market, Historic Woodstock Square, Woodstock
8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Sunday, May 9
Logan Square Farmers Market, 3107 W. Logan Blvd., Chicago
9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
95th Street Farmers Market, 1835 W. 95th St., Chicago
8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Vegan Paradise, 1400 W. 46th St., Chicago
11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Non-Profits News and Jobs
Advocates for Urban Agriculture is hiring a Community Outreach Specialist who will help operationalize its values and strategic directions by strengthening existing relationships and cultivating new ones with individuals and community partners across multiple sectors. Building on these relationships, the Community Outreach Specialist will support social media content, advocacy, and program initiatives.
Preserving beautiful in-season produce is a great way to stock up, save money and prevent food waste. Angelic Organics Learning Center is here to help with a Fermentation Basics class, to be held at its Caledonia, Illinois farm on Saturday, May 15 from 12:30-3:30 p.m. Spend a day in the country and get fermenting! Click below for ticket information.
Chicago Market, a food co-op in development in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood, is hosting Peterson Garden Project’s 9th Annual Edible Plant Sale on Saturday, May 15 and Sunday, May 16 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event will take place at the Gerber Building, the site of Chicago Market’s future store, at 4620 N. Broadway, adjacent to the Wilson Red Line stop.
Healthy Schools Campaign (HSC) is hiring a Communications Manager. Based in Chicago, HSC is a national nonprofit that works to make schools healthier places for all children. HSC believes that every child should have a chance to learn and thrive, and advocates for policies and practices that support health and learning, including nutritious food, physical activity, health services and clean air at school. HSC focuses on issues affecting students of color and those from under-invested communities, and strives to make equity part of the public dialogue about education and health.
Join the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County and Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum on Saturday, May 22, 11:30 a.m., for a virtual program showcasing their partnership to conserve the state-endangered Blanding’s turtles in DuPage Country’s forest preserves. They’ll get up close with native turtles who live in Chicago and surrounding counties’ natural areas and learn what makes these animals so unique.
Urban Growers Collective — a black- and woman-owned nonprofit farm that is working to build a more just and equitable local food system — has openings for four positions: Summer Youth Program Instructor, Seasonal Farm Worker, Seasonal Farmers Market Manager, and Seasonal Farmers Market Sales Associate (click link below for info and applications). Urban Growers Collective will be presenting its South Chicago Farmers Market at their farm at 9000 S. Saginaw on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. beginning May 15.
Take a Quiz
The strawberry is the first fruit to be fully in season in the Chicago region, typically arriving in late May. Which flower is a relative of the strawberry?
a) Lily
b) Crocus
c) Daffodil
d) Rose
Answer: d) The strawberry is a member of the Rosaceae, aka Rose, family. It has a lot of fruity cousins, as many of the most prolific varieties — including apples, pears, plums, cherries, apricots, peaches, blackberries and raspberries — also are in the Rosaceae family.