Local Food Forum Launches Webinar Series
Registration open for April 15 debut on regenerative agriculture
Launching Our Fourth Year with Flair
I came up with idea for Local Food Forum in early 2021 when I was cycling out of my work with the non-profit then known as FamilyFarmed. This started as a passion project, a published platform to share my commitment to help build a better food system, and tell the stories of the people — local farmers, marketers, chefs, food justice advocates, consumers and more — whose personal efforts are bringing us closer to a healthier, more sustainable and more humane food ecosystem.
Since the official launch on April 1, 2021 — three years ago today — I have published 789 issues… that’s an average of five per week… in pursuit of that goal. The publication has grown to a following of nearly 1,100 people without spending a dime on marketing, and I have heard anecdotal evidence that it is having an impact. All in all, a good start… except for one thing.
The Forum in Local Food Forum is very deliberate, as the intention is to grow a community and engage in conversations about the issues involved in our joint efforts to build a true Good Food movement. But we lacked a truly interactive platform to engage Local Food Forum readers in those conversations.
Until now.
As we celebrate our 3rd anniversary, I am thrilled to announce the launch of a new series of webcasts titled Local Food Forum’s “Better” Dialogues, co-hosted by Chef Sarah Stegner, the two-time James Beard Foundation Award winner. The bi-weekly series — presented by Chicago Chefs Cook, the award-winning humanitarian organization — will kick off on Monday, April 15, 7 p.m. central time with an important conversation about regenerative agriculture.
In order to encourage a big turnout from the start, we are offering free tickets to all Local Food Forum subscribers (including new sign-ups). For now we’ll be using an honor system, though we will cross-check subscriber tickets with Local Food Forum’s subscriber list (please make sure you register using the same email address at which you receive Local Food Forum).
For now, non-subscribers will be able to attend for the low, low price of $10/ticket.
Registrants will be sent the Zoom link for the session prior to the event.
Click the button below to buy your ticket if we have you at hello.
Why “Better”?
The word “Better” in the title is in quotation marks because it symbolizes the better-for-people, better-for-the-planet, better-for-animals food system to which the Local Food Forum community aspires.
We are thrilled to welcome amazing guest experts to the conversation, many of whom will be household names to local food devotees.
I am so fortunate to be teaming with Chef Sarah on this project. Sarah has been advocating for a better food system since long before I moved to Chicago, with a resume that includes founding member of Green City Market, Chicago Chefs Cook, and The Abundance Setting; advisor & mentor to The Evolved Network; and Chef Member of Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen Chef Corps.
“Supporting our local farms protects our land and food access for ourselves and future generations. Raising awareness and being part of the discussion is vital to the life of the community,” Sarah says.
Sarah and I share values about fixing our food system, and we’d discussed a webinar series for some time. It came together recently with the support of our esteemed sponsors and supporters who believe in this project, including Prairie Grass Cafe; Rebecca Fyffe of Landmark Pest Management; Amanda Puck of Mariano's; and Eda Davidman, Melissa Clark and Darren Gest of Chicago Chefs Cook.
1st Episode (April 15): The Pros of Regenerative Agriculture
Regenerative agriculture involves farming practices that are designed to rebuild and improve the health of our vital soils, which have incurred significant damage and erosion during the conventional agriculture era. Advocates of regenerative agriculture believe it increases our food system’s sustainability, produces healthier and more resilient crops, and even combats global climate change by sequestering carbon in the soil.
The guests, who are deeply engaged in regenerative agriculture, are:
• Marty Travis, a longtime sustainable farming advocate who owns Spence Farm and leads the Down at the Farms farming collaborative, both in Fairbury, Illinois.
• Greg Wade, head baker at Chicago's Publican Quality Bread and managing partner of the legendary One Off Hospitality restaurant group, who is a longtime customer of Spence Farm's flours. Greg was honored in 2019 with the James Beard Foundation Award as the nation’s best baker, and he and Marty were featured in the 2016 farming documentary Sustainable.
• Tim Brown, who gave up a tech career a decade ago to start growing produce and chickens organically at his Broadview Farm & Gardens in Marengo, Illinois.
2nd Episode (April 29): Outdoor Farmers Market Season Kickoff — Why You Should Go: "Better" Dialogues will celebrate the beginning of the outdoor farmers market season in our home base of Chicago with market leaders and farmers who represent the diversity and resilience of our local growers. While we are building out the guest list, we can’t help but call out what will make this a very special episode.
The segment will begin with a conversation featuring Sarah Stegner and Laura Avery. Both have played important roles in the growth and expansion of the nation’s farmers markets: Laura ran the landmark Santa Monica Farmers Market in California for 36 years, and Sarah is still deeply involved in Green City Market — the pacesetter among Chicago farmers markets — 25 years after she played a major founding role in the market’s creation.
3rd Episode (May 13): Food Education — Instilling Good Food Values in Our Youngest Eaters: We’re still finalizing the guest lineup for this webinar, but trust me, you won’t want to miss this one.
Clearly, Sarah and I am very excited about the biggest new Local Food Forum development to date. Hopefully many of you are too, and you’ll attend and tell your friends who you think should be interested.
Happy birthday to us!