The Local Food Forum Website is Live
This beautiful and flexible platform complements the Local Food Forum newsletter
Introducing the Local Food Forum Website
I am thrilled to announce that our Local Food Forum website, which has been under development, is now live on the web. Please visit www.localfoodforum.com to see what we’re so excited about.
Hopefully your first impression will be, “Dang, this site is just beautiful.” We think so, the comments from close friends with whom I’ve previewed the site agree and hopefully, you will too. Lead developer Christina Perozzi and her team at 44 Larkmoor have done an amazing job on the site’s design and look.
That said, this is what we refer to as a “beta” or “soft” launch. That means the site is advanced enough to take it live and let readers in, but we have a few tweaks to make (in fact, some last-minute technological business delayed the launch by one day) — and we need your feedback.
And tell your friends!
If you spot any glitches, run into any techno-problems, want to recommend a feature that’s not currently there or don’t like a feature that is there, PLEASE let me know. There is a comments box near the bottom of the home page. Also please note that the link for the website is www.localfoodforum.com, while the link for the newsletter is localfoodforum.substack.com; we don’t want anyone to lose their way.
I chose to start Local Food Food 2-1/2 years ago to create a platform for producers, advocates and eaters — people whose goals are a resilient and prosperous local food community and a better-for-people, better-for-the-planet food system. This community is made up of everyday heroes whose stories are largely overlooked by mass media outlets. Local Food Forum exists as the platform to tell those stories.
Now, anyone who knows me know that this Local Food Forum newsletter on Substack is — and will continue to be — my pride and joy. It will continue to be published multiple times a week and will remain the lead vehicle for news and information about local food. The website will be the ultimate repository for the huge amount of content generated by the newsletter.
Yet while I am truly proud that the newsletter has attracted nearly 900 subscribers without spending a cent on marketing, I also believe that number just scratches the surface of the number of people who would find interest in Local Food Forum… if they knew how to find it. A website can provide a upscaled user experience, it is endlessly expandable with new pages and features, the content is searchable, and it seems that web browsers like Google are more apt to direct searchers to websites than newsletters.
While I hope you enjoy noodling around the new site, there are three features to which I want to draw your immediate attention.
Near the top of the home page, you’ll find an array of boxes displaying the eight most recent Local Food Forum newsletters. Click on a box and it will take you to that issue of the newsletter.
But that’s not the most amazing part. Make sure to click the link to Local Food Forum Feed at the top of the homepage (or under the two-line pull-down menu on your phone), and it will take you to the archive of the full content of every issue of the newsletter. I handed Christina and her team a massive technological challenge to vacuum up all of that newsletter copy and have it appear physically on the website. It is a triumph, and it is also beautiful.
From the get-go, Local Food Forum has been providing weekly (now bi-weekly) updates on the Chicago region farmers market schedule. The only downside is that it is a long, long scroll through a lot of text. The techno-whizzes at 44 Larkmoor have fulfilled my dream of a farmers market calendar with all the markets listed by day of the week. It’s on the home page and I think a lot of readers will love it.
And believe it or not, the website is not the only thing we’re launching. There will be a new series of long-form podcasts featuring interviews with farm-to-table chefs and other community leaders. There will be webinars on key issues pertaining to the local food community. We will be gathering the clan with a new events series.
And, fulfilling a long-unrequited promise, paid newsletter subscribers will get special access and discounts on this special programming.
Finally, I’ll let you in on a little secret. I think local food ecosystems all over the country can benefit from sharing their news and perspectives on Local Food Forum, and the website has the space and flexibility to facilitate that.
What I need is to make these complementary publications more financially sustainable and obtain the revenues needed to hire or pay people to help, because the flat-out truth is that every article, notice or photograph published so far in Local Food Forum has been either produced or edited by me, and there are limits to what I can do as a one-man band.
So I will cherish every new paid subscription I receive. And if you or someone you know would consider a paid sponsorship to get a company’s name before a sizable and (hopefully) growing audience of local food true believers, please contact me (you can use that nifty comments box on the home page).
Ready for liftoff. Please join me on this rocket ride.
— Bob Benenson
Don’t Miss the Chicago Gardening Awards Sunday
The Chicago Excellence in Gardening Awards (CEGA), produced by my friend Mike Nowak, take place this Sunday (September 24) at Wild Blossom Meadery & Winery, 9030 S. Hermitage in Chicago.
There will be 65 gardens of a wide variety of shapes and sizes that will be honored at the ceremony. The following is CEGA’s press release detailing the event.
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CHICAGO (September 15, 2023) – The Chicago Excellence in Gardening Awards (CEGA), Chicago’s only citywide gardening awards program, will announce its 2023 winners at its annual ceremony on Sunday, September 24. With the conclusion of the 2023 campaign, CEGA will have honored almost 300 Chicago gardeners from the City’s north, south, west, and even east sides since 2017. This year, some 65 gardens will receive all-weather signs for their contributions towards making their neighborhoods--and the planet--better places to live.
The ceremony once again takes place at Wild Blossom Meadery & Winery on Chicago’s South Side, adjacent to Dan Ryan Woods. Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Commissioner Mariyana T. Spyropoulos will briefly address the award winners. CEGA will also honor two individuals with its “Garden Angel” award, both of whom were instrumental in the founding of CEGA in 2017. 2023 CEGA Garden Angel is longtime environmental activist and community garden organizer Julie Samuels. 2022 CEGA Garden Angel is retired Illinois Extension educator Ron Wolford, who was to have been honored last year but was forced to miss the ceremony when he contracted COVID-19.
From backyards to parkways to school gardens to rooftops to community gardens and urban farms, CEGA has emphasized the importance of acknowledging City gardeners who work in private and public spaces and who, in doing so, exhibit the pride they have for their Chicago communities. While the awards always recognize beauty, creativity, and community engagement, this year, as the specter of climate change looms, there was a special emphasis on sustainable horticultural practices—using native plants, conserving water, and providing habitat.
CEGA is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. Entry to the competition is free and open to Chicago gardeners. The 2023 CEGA partners include University of Illinois Extension: Cook County, Forest Preserve District of Cook County, Shedd Aquarium, Natural Awakenings Chicago Magazine, The Mike Nowak Show with Peggy Malecki, and Chicago Community Gardeners Association (CCGA). CEGA received additional support in 2023 from Possibility Place Nursery, Midwest Groundcovers and Natural Garden Natives, Bartlett Tree Experts, Wild Blossom Meadery & Winery, and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.
Wild Blossom Meadery & Winery (https://www.wildblossommeadery.com/) is located at 9030 S. Hermitage Avenue, Chicago, IL 60620 and is the only meadery in the State of Illinois.
Bob Benenson’s wonderful Local Food Forum is now both an active website AND an awesome blog on Substack! And illustrated with his gorgeous photography!
Congratulations on the website launch, Bob!