Podcast and a Farm-Out Event Schedule
Chicago Chefs Cook's Italy fundraising series starts tomorrow
Reminder: Chicago Chefs Cook Fundraiser Starts Thursday
Chicago Chefs Cook’s latest fundraiser, to assist flood victims in a beloved agricultural sector of Italy, begins tomorrow (June 8). I say “begins” because this is a twist on the past events produced by this amazing collective of culinary artists and Good Food advocates, who have held previous walk-around tasting events to raise money to help people facing crises or to build our local food community.
Their Emilia-Romagna Dinner Series runs five nights, through Monday, June 12, in partnership with the National Italian American Foundation.
And instead of dozens of chefs and restaurants providing samples of their cuisine in one night and location, diners can visit any of 10 restaurants for a chef’s experience designated for the event, with proceeds from each going to the flood relief fund.
The participating restaurants (in alphabetical order) are Alla Vita, Gene & Georgetti, Gibsons Italia, Italian Village, Monteverde, Nonnina, Petterino’s, RPM Italian, Ummo, and Volare. Chefs from around the city are collaborating on the experiences at host restaurants, while others are adding dishes to their menus to support the event.
Contact the participating restaurants for more information and to make a reservation.
Keep scrolling for information about other upcoming events… including a couple of on-farm music fests in August… but first…
Latest Podcast’s Out… Your Feedback Welcome
Hopefully you all received an email this morning containing Episode 3 of the Local Food Rules podcast. The download numbers from the first two episodes are certainly encouraging but there’s plenty of room for growth — and feedback on how to make the podcast even more useful for listeners.
Local Food Forum tries to cover the full range of issues and interests in the Chicago region’s Local Food community, and the podcast is a microcosm of that. Topics touched upon in Episode 3 include:
* What's in season tips (it's the berries, and peas, please)
* Salute of Chicago's winners of The James Beard Foundation Awards and how they reflect diversity in Chicago culinary.
* Spotlight on the Austin Town Hall City Market and Olive-Harvey College’s Farmers Market, which are bringing food access (and potential growth) to under-resourced communities.
* My tireless rounds of farmers market visits around Chicago
* Meat by subscription
* And a craft beer fest with fond memories
Happy listening!
Garden Frolics Around Chicago
Our friends at University of Illinois Extension Cook County have shared a schedule of summer garden walks in and around Chicago. Here’s a list of June events — I will update periodically — with a link to the full schedule through August (all in Illinois unless otherwise noted).
June 21 and 22: Crete … June 24: Porter County, Indiana; St. Charles; Libertyville; Rolling Meadows … June 25: Arlington Heights; Chicago North Center Neighborhood; Oak Park/River Forest; Evanston; Lake County, Indiana.
Farm Out!
Time flies, so it’s not too early to make plans for two fun on-farm events coming up in August… both of which come with the bonus of a ride through some of our region’s prettiest countryside
Avrom Farm — a regenerative livestock farm in Green Lake, Wisconsin that now partners with the 99 Counties meat home delivery company — is holding its 5th annual Avrom Farm Party August 4 through 6. (And, Boomer that I am, I love their groovy Peter Max-like poster.)
This is no small production, with 21 music acts, camping, farm tours, workshops, family-friendly activities, and food, glorious locally and sustainably produced food.
Green Lake is a bit of a hike (roughly 180 miles north of downtown Chicago), and Avrom Farm owner Hayden Holbert tells me that they are working on transportation options for those of us who want to go the distance without driving it.
Click the button below to learn more and buy tickets.
Angelic Organics Learning Center, located in Caledonia in far north-central Illinois, supports local and sustainable farming through farmer education and other programming for all ages. And whether you are new to their location or have visited before, I can’t think of a better way to get to know them better than to attend their Alfalfa Festival coming up on Saturday, August 26.
The festival is a gathering of acoustic bluegrass music in support of the Learning Center's On-Farm Education Programming. It will run from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m., and you can camp out if that’s your thing (but only by reserving a space in advance).
According to the organizers:
Enjoy an afternoon and evening of live acoustic music under the Rainbow Pavillion stage overlooking the lush alfalfa fields and tranquil Kinnikinnick Creek flowing through the Learning Center grounds. When the music stops and the lights go down, bring your guitars, banjos, fiddles, harps, drums, and voices to the Campfire Jam. Gather around a community campfire in the camping area (camping pass required), toast some s'mores, and sing along under the stars.
Click the button below for more information, to buy tickets and to make campground reservations.
And there is another way you can help the Angelic Organics Learning Center in its efforts to help build a better food system: Their “One Sustainable Summer” silent auction begins on Monday (June 12). Click below to register to bid, and scroll through the excellent prizes.