New Farm Store Signals Liberty Prairie's Rebrand
Big farming-focused shift at conservation pillar, plus FACT's end of year appeal
Local Food Gets Shiny New Outlet in Grayslake
I took a Metra train trip Monday to visit the month-old Liberty Prairie Farm Store in Grayslake, in the northern reaches of suburban Chicago. The store is located at 970 Harris Rd., at the edge of the conservation-focused Prairie Crossing development, one of the nation’s pioneering “agri-communities.”
There is an important back story about this market. It is the public debut of the Liberty Prairie non-profit organization, a partnership of the former Liberty Prairie Foundation and the former Prairie Wind Family Farm, a champion of sustainable and regenerative agriculture.
I had the pleasure of interviewing farmers Jen and Jeff Miller, who are longtime friends, and newer friend Karen Wilkes, who joined Liberty Prairie as executive director in May after more than 14 years in a similar community in California’s Silicon Valley. Together they are re-focusing Liberty Prairie’s mission more tightly on regenerative agriculture practice and education.
I’ll explore these important changes in an article later this week, after I have time to process the interview (and also so Liberty Prairie can launch its new website first!). But I figured, why wait to share the info on the Farm Store, which is open every day except Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The store is itself a successor to the more-rustic, honor-system store in a barn on Jen and Jeff’s farm (that’s them outside the building during my visit on August 18).
But the product offerings and intentions of the pretty, climate-controlled and brightly lighted new store are the same.
Visitors can expect to find a seasonal selection of hyper-local produce from the rebranded Liberty Prairie Farm, located less than two miles away.
The store also functions as kind of a farmers mini-market, with products aggregated from leading producers that include Mick Klug Farm, Jake’s Country Meats (Local Food Forum highlighted Jake’s winter meat drops in Monday’s issue), River Valley Ranch mushrooms, Bushel & Peck’s fermented foods and frozen soups, Janie’s Mill flours, Kilgus Farmstead milk, Joe’s Farm eggs, Nordic Creamery cheese, and Deerland Yogurt, made with milk from grass-fed cows, which may just be the most delicious yogurt I’ve ever eaten.
Click below for a more complete list of farms and vendors with whom Liberty Prairie Farm Store works.
I controlled my over-buying reflex because I had a long train ride back to Chicago and then a long bus ride from Union Station home. But now that I am back into bread-baking mode, I could hardly pass up that big bag of high-protein bread flour from Janie’s Mill (Ashkum, Illinois), and I had just enough carrying capacity to add a container of that Deerland yogurt, a big block of Nordic cheddar cheese, and some Jake’s Canadian bacon, which I bet would go real well with that cheese.
Support FACT’s Food Animal Welfare Efforts
Food Animal Concerns Trust, based in Chicago, is a non-profit leader in farm animal welfare. Among its good works are its annual Fund-a-Farmer grants, which provide selected farms with up to $3,000 each to be used for welfare-related projects. The program has provided more than $1 million in grants since 2012, $253,000 of that in 2023 alone.
FACT is staging an annual appeal to raise money to sustain and grow its efforts. Here’s is the background from the organization.
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“I’ve been a FACT donor for many years. I believe that my contributions help alleviate suffering by encouraging both farmers and meat-eaters to find and develop compassionate options when raising and eating farm animals.” -- D. Norseth, FACT Supporter since 2006
FACT is excited that our impact and interest in our work continues to expand. It makes me optimistic to know that farmers throughout the country want to raise their animals humanely and that consumers are searching for healthy, pasture-raised meat, poultry, and dairy products.
Since 2012 our Humane Farming Program has helped to improve the lives of more than 2,000,000 food animals. Here are some highlights from this past year:
• Our network of humane farmers grew from 10,000 to 11,600.
• We distributed $253,700 in grants to 87 farmers in 34 states plus Washington DC.
• Our educational programs impacted the work of thousands of farms throughout the country.
All of this work would not be possible without you. We are partners in making healthy and safe food available for all and we are looking forward to seeing more farmers and eaters join in working to transform the food system.
This holiday season, I am writing to ask for your support so that the impact of our work will continue to grow.
One great example of humane farming in action is PearlJack Farm in West Richland, Washington. They were awarded a FACT Fund-a-Farmer grant this year to improve and expand their rotational, pastured poultry operation by purchasing a livestock guardian dog, additional fencing, and the materials to build two mobile chicken coops and a mobile turkey shelter.
Owner Aubrey Gallegos was on the verge of giving up her poultry operation. She told us that the grant completely changed her farm and her farm business: “Last year I raised 27 Freedom Ranger chickens. With this grant, I’ve scaled up nearly 10 times with 204 Freedom Rangers raised on the farm already. With the mobile chicken coops, I’ve been able to free-range my chickens during the day while still protecting them from the elements and predators. Thanks to my wonderful new livestock guardian dog, Ori, I’ve also been able to run the broilers on pastures that I hadn’t been able to use for chickens previously because of predator pressure.
“The FACT grant provided exactly what I needed to scale up my humane poultry operation and it kick-started my business. I am so grateful for this grant, and for all the work FACT does to support small, humane farming.”
Your dollar goes a long way towards helping farmers like Aubrey thrive, and we need your support to help this fund grow so we can support more humane farms every year.
Today, sadly, most animals raised for food are on large industrial factories. Cows are crowded into small spaces and often stand all day in their own feces. Pigs are raised in cramped cages. Often you have 50,000 chickens raised indoors in a space so crowded that they can’t even move. These animals are pumped with antibiotics during their entire lives so that they will stay alive.
FACT’s Safe and Healthy Food Program is working to change policies that have led to these inhumane conditions for animals, and to unhealthy food that is reaching most consumers. One major victory this year was that the FDA acknowledged that carbadox, a carcinogenic drug given regularly to pigs, should be taken off the market. This would not have happened without the diligent persistence of FACT.
We need your help to make all of this happen. Half of our funds come from supporters like you. During this holiday season, please consider supporting FACT by making a gift of $48, $115, $285, $570, or another amount that is meaningful to you. Please donate today.
Thank you for your support of FACT. All of us send you and your loved ones our best wishes for a joyous, healthy, and wonderful holiday season.
Warm regards,
Harry Rhodes
Executive Director
And if you are a farmer interested in applying for a Fund-a-Farmer grant, click the button below. The deadline to apply is January 15.
Bob’s World, and Welcome to It
A little different angle on Chicago’s tallest building — Willis Tower, formerly Sears Tower: This was taken from the Metra train heading into Union Station at the end of my Grayslake field trip.
Then, day was done with another great ball of fire at sunset.