An interactive conversation covering all aspects of a successful farmers market, from the initial planning phase to a sustainable market place, which benefits your community, and the farmers and food artisans who sell at the market.  Topics will include:

• Determining whether a farmers market is right for your community
• Working with relevant government agencies
• Establishing market rules, regulations and vendor criteria
• Budgeting and staffing (paid and volunteer)
• Farmer / Vendor recruitment
• SNAP / EBT
• Promotion and Advertising
• Educational Programming
• Balancing all participants’ best interests – Market, Community, Shoppers, and Farmers/Vendors 

Dennis, Karen, and I come from different farmers market models and hope to have some insights to share with you.  But consider the enumerated topics a starting point—the real agenda will be driven by you, so come with your questions, your own best practices to share, and an open mind. 

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On Saturday, March 13, from 1pm to 4pm there will be a Farmers Market Forum, an opportunity for market managers and farmers/producers/vendors to learn some of the nuts and bolts about farmers markets.  This is being sponsored by an ad hoc group of market managers and others interested in creating a statewide farmers market association in Illinois, and will cover:

• Network and share successful marketing and outreach initiatives
• Learn the latest news about GAP (good agricultural practices) training and Food Rules Updates
• Find new ways for growing your market ( including EBT/Link)
• Farmers Market Association planning update

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From 10am to 5pm on Saturday, March 13, the EXPO will include a Local Food Festival complete with chef demos, kids’ activities, and over 100 farmer, producer, and artisan exhibitors offering information, samples, purchase opportunities, and CSA applications.  But any self-respecting market manager or wannabee will surely recognize it as a chance to engage in their favorite pastime–trolling for vendors.  So come armed with your market brochures, business cards, and community’s demographics, and hope to catch the attention of  those on hand.

More about all of these opportunities at FamilyFarmed EXPO.  See you there!

By the end of the night, the statistics were staggering: Tweet And Taste attracted a whopping 66 participants from many places, including Michigan, Chicagoland, and Savannah, Georgia. The participants included a master sommelier, the winemaker for Black Star Farms, and numerous wine bloggers. In all, more than 800 tweets were exchanged.

Most participants rated the pear-forward, green apple tartness of the Dry Riesling as the best of the group, with the fruity Pinot Noir coming in a close second. The lightly oaky Chardonnay was well-received, although many in the group expressed that they were not Chardonnay fans in general.

Why is local wine relevant? Because it expresses the place from where it came. Last night’s Pinot Noir, in particular, demonstrated its origins, as people commented that, although the wine was undoubtedly an expression of the pinot noir grape, it did not taste like any pinot noir anyone had ever tasted: “Not Burgundian, but not high octane like a lot of California Pinots. More New Zealand-ish, maybe?” “[T]his [Pinot Noir] expresses the flavors of the region, our vineyards [are] young but fruit is bright and sensual . . .” “I don’t quite get rich enough fruit for it to be N[ew] Z[ealand]. I do get a feeling of fall in the level of fruit though.” Taking the comments together, it was the general consensus of the group that the wine, which was lighter and more ruby in color than most pinot noirs, was an expression of the shorter ripening season in upper Michigan. It’s an unique wine that proudly and unapologetically expresses its Midwest origins.

The full transcript of last night’s discussion can be found here. If you didn’t participate in the tasting, but still would like to try Black Star Farm’s wine, you can visit their website for ordering information. Plans are in the works for more Tweet And Tastes in the future.

Did you participate in last night’s virtual tasting, or have had Black Star Farms’ wines? If so, let us know here what you think.

Don’t be caught with all of our updates.  See how to follow us here.

Don’t be caught without a CSA.  Shares are selling out.  Find a CSA here.

Don’t be caught not knowing what we’ve been up to over the last year at the Local Beet.

If you have a financial stake in local food systems, don’t get caught missing FamilyFarmed’s Farm to Fork Conference on Thursday.

If you want to meet the Beet, don’t get caught missing talks by Rob Gardner and Melissa Graham on Saturday at the FamilyFarmed Expo.

Don’t get caught without thelocalbeet.com to live the local life.

See your complete Local Calendar below to live the local life.

WHAT TO BUY NOW

Very limited supplies of local food left to purchase this time of year.  Look, and you will find  apples and potatoes.   There are sightings of local carrots, cabbage, squash and rutabaga.  Maybe Cassie has some local rocket.  There will always be sprouts and mushrooms. – UPDATE: A recent visit ot Angelo Caputo’s in Elmwood Park confirmed that local apples still exist.

Think instead for dried and frozen fruits.  Tomato Mountain and River Valley Ranch offer canned local goods.

And remember, just because there is barely any local produce, it does not mean that there are not lots of other local foods to get from all our great cheeses, to meats, grains, beans, nuts, milk, eggs, etc.  There’s even local tofu at some markets.

Let us know what other local goods you are still seeing for sale.

 WHERE TO FIND LOCAL FOODS

These stores specialize in local foods:

• Downtown Famstand
• Green Grocer
• Dill Pickle Coop in Logan Square

As noted above, local apples and potatoes can be had for excellent prices.  Look soon for an update on what’s local at  the French Market at Metra Market. Until then here’s our previous report.

WHAT TO DO

MARKETS  AND EVENTS THIS WEEK

Wednesday - March 10

Check out the Hideout for Soup and Bread – 1354 W. Wabansia, Chicago – 530 – 8 PM

 Two friends of the Local Beet, Chef Rick Gresh and rare tea sourcer Rodrick Markus are teaming up for a meal combining their two talents.  David Burke’s Primehouse may be a steakhouse to you, but to us it is also a place very much in line with our eat local ethos.  If you like good food and rare teas, this is a great event to try both. 

Thursday - March 11

Family Farmed Expo – Financing Farm to Fork Conference - UIC Forum, Chicago

Melissa Graham at the Downtown Farmstand – 66 E. Randolph, Chicago – 12-2 PM

Friday - March 12

Family Farmed Expo – Trade Conference – UIC Forum, Chicago

Localious Party with FamilyFarmed – UIC Forum, Chicag0 – 7 – 10PM

Chicago Food Policy Summit - UIC Forum, Chicago

Saturday – March 13

Chicago Green City Market at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, 8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m (Directions) – The theme is “Greens, Eggs and Ham”

Family Farmed Expo – Consumer Day – UIC Forum, Chicago

Sunday – March 14

Winter Farmer’s Market, Park Ridge Community Church, 100 Courtland, Park Ridge – 930 AM - 130 PM

Pig Butchering class at Mado – 1230 PM – 1647 N. Milwaukee, Chicago

MARKETS AND EVENTS COMING

Tuesday - March 16

  City Provisions Supper Club with August Hill Winery at Logan Square Kitchen – 2333 N. Milwaukee, Chicago   

Wednesday – March 17

Wisconsin vs. the World – Cheese Contest - Monona Terrace – Madison, Wisconsin 6-8 PM

Crawford Farm dinner at Vie – 4471 Lawn Ave, Western Springs, IL

Meet the folks behind Harvest Moon Farms and learn about their CSA – Lush Wine and Spirits (Roscoe Village) – 2232 W. , Chicago – 6 – 8 PM

New! Green Acres Cook Off and Bell’s Brewery Tasting – Green Grocer Chicago – Green Acres Farm is coming upstate to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day with Bell’s Brewery! Self-titled Mid-Life-Farm-Wife, Donna O’Shaugnessey, will be leaving her hormone-free, pasture raised friends in Frankfurt for the night to pan sear some sliders and stir fry some pork. Pair all of that with a dark glass of porter or stout, and your eyes will be smiling Irish heritage or not! Never in all the four counties has eating ethically tasted so good! Slainte! Whet your appetite, and check out Donna’s blog. – 1402 W. Grand, Chicago – 5 PM

Thursday - March 18

Melissa Graham at the Downtown Farmstand – 66 E. Randolph, Chicago – 12-2 PM

GreenTown: The Future of Community Main Conference – College of Lake County – 19351 W. Washington St., Building C – Lower Level, Grayslake, IL – 7 AM to 6 PM – See here for details

Saturday – March 20

Ebenezer Luthern Church – 1650, W. Foster, Chicago – 9 AM – 1 PM

Purple Asparagus Family Dinner – at Dawali Mediterranean Kitchen, from 2:30-5:00 PM

New! – Celebrate National Corndog Day with Gus at Weiner and Still Champion - 802 Demptster, Evanston

New! – Maple Syrup Festival – North Park Village Nature Center. 5801 N Pulaski Rd (between Bryn Mawr and Peterson Aves)

Sunday – March 21

Unitarian Universalist Church of Elgin – 39W830 Highland, Elgin – 1 – 3 PM

New! – Maple Syrup Festival – North Park Village Nature Center. 5801 N Pulaski Rd (between Bryn Mawr and Peterson Aves)

Monday - March 22

Pig Butchering class at Mado – 1230 PM – 1647 N. Milwaukee, Chicago

Wednesday - March 24

Culinary Conversations with Food Women – In celebration of Women’s History Month, Judith Dunbar-Hines will lead a lively conversation with five women who own and operate Chicago area food businesses to learn about their journey in establishing, operating and marketing their successful local food businesses. Chicago’s Downtown Farmstand will remain open until 8pm to accommodate post-event shoppers! Scheduled participants include: Nicole Bergere, Nicole’s Crackers; Jessica Volpe, Pasta Puttana; Jenny Yang, Phoenix Tofu; Meg Dhamer, Pigtales Twist; and Elizabeth Madden, Rare Bird. – Chicago’s Downtown Farmstand – 66 E. Randolph, Chicago – 6 – 8 PM - Call 312.742.TIXS (8497) for reservations or click here to register online.

Thursday - March 25

Melissa Graham at the Downtown Farmstand – 66 E. Randolph, Chicago – 12-2 PM

Friday - March 26

 Tiny Mahler Orchestra performs La Bonne Chanson”  at 73o in Alice Millar Chapel, 1870 Sheridan Road, Evanston on the Northwestern University campus.  Expect some neat food.

Saturday – March 27

Chicago Green City Market at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, 8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m (Directions) – The theme is still Greens, Eggs, and Ham (we think).

Portage Park – Irving Park and Central, Chicago - 10 – 2 PM

Sunday - March 28

New! – Winter Farmers Market at North Shore Unitarian Church, Deerfield - 21oo Half Day Road, Deerfield, IL – 10 AM – 2 PM 

Choucroute Garnie Alscatian stuffing at Mado – 1647 N.  Milwaukee, Chicago – 6 PM

 Tiny Mahler Orchestra performs La Bonne Chanson”  at 7:30 pm at the Heaven Gallery, 1550 North Milwaukee Avenue, 2nd floor.  Expect some neat food.

Saturday - April 10

Chicago Green City Market at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, 8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m (Directions) – The theme is Cheese

Winter Farmer’s Market, Chicago/Beverly – Beverly Unitarian Church (the Castle) – 10244 S Longwood Ave, Chicago – 9 AM – 1 PM

BaconFest Chicago – Chef’s participating here –  Ticket info here.

Thursday- April 22

Go Green Day Management Earth Day – Flair Tower – 720 N. Franklin, Chicago

Saturday – April 24

Chicago Green City Market at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, 8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m (Directions) – The theme is Cheese.

Portage Park – Irving Park and Central, Chicago - 10 – 2 PM

It’s a tricky act going through stored foods.  Our primary goal is to continue to eat local foods.  If we put away local foods, we get to continue to have local foods.  We need enough local food then to last us until enough new foods arrive in Oak Park, say late April.  Yet by early March, we face two challenges.  First, we lose the natural conditions that make it possible to store foods.  Our root cellar in the sky warms up.  Second, some foods stored under good conditions, still start get icky.  We have onions kept in a perfectly dry, dark location sprouting madly.  Some root vegetables make it better than others.  The Local Family had enough food to make it to this point, and now the Local Family needs to eat the rest of its stored food before it’s too late.  It’s kind of like a hotel putting their rooms for bid on Priceline.  They have value, they have value, and then bizaam, they have no value.  This week the food tastes fine.  Next week it is (could be) compost.

Like a lot of the tales of the Local Family, I serve merely as the scribe.  The hard work I leave to my wife.  She’s been attacking the stores the last week or so.  First, she made a big ol’ mash-up.  Then, she sauteed the remaining Brussels sprouts.  For the mash, she isolated all of the edible, if gross turnips, a few rutabagas from a supply still mostly fine, and some potatoes a bit too green in the skin.  By the time she set down her peeler, you would think these vegetables arrived yesterday.  Well, maybe not, but a little boiling, a little milk, maybe more than a little butter, some nutmeg, and who cared the age.  The mash lasted us several meals, including once fried up with turkey as a kind of hash.  The Brussels sprouts, freed of their outer coating tasted just fine too.

Not content, she also took her peeler and her steamer to work on some really old kohlrabi, that most maligned of CSA inclusions.  Yet count me as someone never going to malign a kohlrabi again.  Here’s a veg that can turn a bit gray and gnarly on the surface yet put fourth great taste so many months later.  After steaming til soft, the kohlrabi were peeled and used in a farro casserole.

Yesterday, she tackled a large batch of carrots and parsnips that she will roast today.  She also did the heavy lifting on a few of our squash in advance of final preparations.  You can see what’s left below.  As it warms up, the items left in the attic will have to go to the basement or the basement fridge.  You will notice in few cases, we probably waited to late.  Sometimes the time to have had something was yesterday.  To supplement, we can find local apples probably for sure.  We are desperately in need of a trip to Cassie’s Green Grocer for some indoor grown rocket or lettuces.  We think we have a trip to Madison on the agenda in a few weeks where we can pick up some needed garlic.  This is definitely the trickiest time of year for a locavore, but we think we can make it.

Basement Storage

• Winter Squash – acorn, pie pumpkin, butternut (2), blue triamble (2) – Used a carnival; the Australian butter and galeux d eysines are about ready to be used.  We had to toss the spaghetti squash
• Red onions – About 1/3rd of our 25 lb bag of red onions remains but several have sprouted; there are a few other red onions around that are in good shape
• White onions – 4 or so, about .75 lb
• Canned tomatoes – whole, sauce, puree
• Spiced peaches
• Peach chutney
• Dried mushrooms
• Misc. pickles, jams, jellies, relishes
• Dried beans
• Local oats

Basement Fridge

• Cauliflower – still there but we kinda blew it on this
• Leeks (5)
• Red cabbage (3) – one very tired
• Turnips (15) – assorted
• Carrots – assorted - All the carrots left downstairs have been peeled in anticipation of roasting them soon
• Beauty heart radishes – see cauliflower above

Basement Freezer

• Frozen fruits – blueberries, grapes, cherries, peaches – used some fruit is a crisp last Friday
• Frozen veg – peas, corn, greens, pureed squash, tomato puree, dried tomato
• Local meat – Used ground pork and ground lamb for a meat pie and a smoked turkey for a pot of white beans

Kitchen Fridge

• Leek
• Parsley root (2)
• Turnip
• Homemade quince-apple membrillo
• Local eggs
• Assorted cheeses
• Smoked trout

Kitchen

• Garlic – Like 1/2 head left, not good
• Black walnuts
• Dried fruits – strawberries, apricots, peaches

Root Cellar in the Sky

• Apples – Rapidly finishing up the apples.  Went through the big bag of honeycrisps; some Northern Spy used in crisp
• Potatoes – Roasted all of the fingerlings, used some of the misc. white potatoes in the mash described above leaving us mostly russets and some all blue
• Rutabaga (4) - Mashed several 
• Turnips (6) – Ditto
• Beets (10) -
• Carrots – 3 lbs
• Chestnuts – 1 lb
• Sunchokes - 8 lbs -
• 25 lb of local corn meal
• 5 lb local buckwheat

Local Beet contributor Monica Kass Rogers recently launched her lost recipes site.  Tasty on the eyes too.

Martha Bayne’s working for Irv and Shelly.

MikeG gets the full kugelis tray.

Jen at the Eat Local Challenge Blog is blogging about her dark days, which compared to around here hardly seem dark.

Molly, the Virtual Farmgirl has been active.

Find yourself a hard copy of the latest edition of Edible Chicago, but in the meantime, you can read the articles online, including this piece on one of my favorite topics, local fish.

Eating local is a good habit, but our friend Dana Altman reminds us that most of us have too many bad habits when it comes to food.

Finally, if we’ve given you the usual round of suspects, how also pointing you to Foreign Policy for a little locavore love.

Please let us know any good eat local links we missed.

The press release is below.

Organic Food Expert Talks Sustainability On EcoChat

Web show to discuss shopping tips and trends in farming Industry

March 4, 2010 – With Spring on the horizon and the organic food movement in full bloom, America’s farmers are gearing up for a prosperous summer season. But as new products gain visibility and distribution into larger markets, many consumers and industry leaders are wondering how agriculture will be affected in the long run.

Bringing clarity to this topic, organic food expert Jim Slama will join EcoChat Monday night for a discussion about sustainable food systems as he prepares to debut the fifth annual Family Farmed Expo in Chicago, a gathering of consumers, food producers, and trade buyers to support the growth of local, sustainable food systems happening March 11-13 at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

As the President and Founder of FamilyFarmed.org, Slama is no stranger to the sustainable farming community.

“When I began working on these issues over a decade ago, nobody was talking about it,” Jim says, “Most folks thought all their food came from local family farmers, rather than the large scale industrial farms that grow most of our food. It’s exciting for the buy-local movement to take off.”

In addition to discussing the future of American agriculture, the show will provide practical advice to consumers about how to engage in their local food communities, says Alicia Ontiveros, EcoChat host.

“We want to empower consumers by educating them about the value of different produce options and connecting them with food producers in our country,” says Ontiveros, “Yes, there are farmer’s markets, but there are also co-ops and other models of community supported agriculture that many people don’t know about.”

The show is powered by a new web event platform called Vokle. Viewers anywhere can simply watch the show online, or log in with a Twitter or Vokle account to chat in real time with other participants and submit video and text questions to guests. Vokle also offers the option for green content providers to embed the live program on their websites for free.

Viewers can tune-in on Monday, March 8th, at 8PM CST by visiting ecochicago.blogspot.com and keep track of additional shows by following @ecochat on Twitter.

###

About Alicia Ontiveros:

With a background in network television production, Alicia Ontiveros founded EcoChicago in January of 2009 to connect local residents with new green resources in the Windy City. Since then, she’s produced dozens of web videos featuring green leaders and forged her own sustainable lifestyle.

Contact:

Alicia Ontiveros, Host, EcoChat

505-450-6585

www.ecochicago.blogspot.com

Beekeeper McKinney is happy to report that, despite a few hundred bee corpses lying around the hives, the insects have taken advantage of the recent warm(ish) weather to sun themselves and see if any pollen is to be found. While Anthony is still cautiously optimistic that they’ll survive the potentially brutal weather of our early spring, he nonetheless refilled their feeding buckets and tucked the hives back into slumber with their insulation. So far, though, so good.

- 1/3 of American children are obese (2/3 of American adults)
- For the first time since the marvels of modern medicine, health experts are predicting that children will have a lower life span than their parents (2-5 years)
- 10 percent of America’s health care bills are obesity-related, whether it be treatment for diabetes, hypertension or joint injury and this doesn’t even include mental health related costs
- Illinois has the fourth highest rate of childhood obesity.

It’s bad.

To combat this national scourge, First Lady Michelle Obama recently announced her “Let’s Move” campaign with an ambitious goal of ending childhood obesity in a generation. While I agree with some commentators the initiatives dependence on industry cooperation seems too hopeful, I believe that the national attention brought about my this announcement moves the ball far down the field on this important issue.

In light of the recent unveiling of the White House program, I wanted to share some news of a local initiative intended to pool resources in this important battle.

On January 24, the non-profit that I founded, Purple Asparagus, with the help of a tireless committee,* spearheaded the first Growing Healthy Kids event at Logan Square Kitchen. The Sunday lunch meeting brought together approximately 30 organizations dedicated to educating children about nutrition, gardening, the environment, and, in general, how to lead a healthy lifestyle. It was an event that our board had long tossed around at our meetings. Ultimately, we wanted to provide groups working with Chicagoland kids around issues of food and wellness an opportunity to meet and learn more about one another so that we can find ways to collaborate. As we all know, the issues facing our city’s children are huge and daunting and no one organization can solve them alone.

Photo Credit, Grant Kessler

In attendance were representatives from the following groups:

Academy for Global Citizenship
Chartwells Thompson Hospitality
Chicago Botanic Garden
Common Threads
Food Atelier
Fooditude
Fresh Connections
Green Sugar Press
Good Food Project
Gourmet Gorilla
Green City Market
Growing Power
Healthy Schools Campaign
NURTURE
Organic Life
Seven Generations Ahead
Share Our Strength
Slow Food
The Kids’ Table
Urban Worm Girl
We Farm

Other groups, like CLOCC (The Consortium to Lower Childhood Obesity) and Openlands were unable to attend, but provided their contact information for upcoming events and programs of Growing Healthy Kids.

We were treated to a surprisingly delicious from Chartwells, CPS main food service company, who donating the winning lunch from Healthy Schools Campaign’s 2009 Cooking Up Change Event: Chicken Jambalaya and Tomato and Cucumber Salad. We also enjoyed fair trade, sustainably raised coffee from Crop to Cup.

Photo Credit, Grant Kessler

We’ve heard almost uniformly positive comments from the event – the only small criticism was that it wasn’t long enough. Imagine that, a 2 hour Sunday afternoon business meeting that wasn’t long enough. It goes to show how much we have to say to one another.

Going forward, the Growing Healthy Kids list will act as a listserv providing to its members news about events like Seven Generations Ahead’s Fresh From the Farm Training and CLOCC’s meeting of the Healthy Teacher Network. We also plan to meet for an April GHK Green Drinks at Uncommon Ground to continue our networking efforts. Ultimately, we hope to at some point organize a health fair that will be open to parents, teachers, and administrators who will be able to learn about the programs available to promote healthy lifestyles among their parents and students.

In a few weeks, Purple Asparagus will be posting on its site (www.purpleasparagus.com) the first version of the Growing Healthy Kids brochure, which provides information on the mission and initiatives of each of these organizations. It’s already been a tremendous resource for those of us in the group and has set off a series of meeting between individual groups. For example, in just this week, I’ve had meetings or calls with CLOCC, Organic Life, and Fooditude.

If you know of an organization that should have been included, but wasn’t, please email me at info@purpleasparagus.com. We want this group to be as expansive as possible.

The only effective way to achieve Mrs. Obama’s important goal is to work together, children with parents, parents with schools, non-profits with for profits and of course other non-profits. To borrow a phrase from her campaign, let’s stop citing statistics and wringing our hands and let’s move.

Are you working on any programs in your communities to combat obesity? Please share any successes, challenges, etc.

*Committee members: Nancy Lufrano, Tim Magner, Nora Gainer, Sara Gasbarra, Melissa Tobias, Trish Rynolds, Ryan Kimura.

We want you to stick around and follow us.  We fully admit that we have a few issues to work out to make our rich archives better accessible.  You do know that if you go all the way to the bottom of the page there’s a search feature.  It’s Google powered and works pretty darn good, so pour yourself some fair trade coffee and catch up.  And to stay abreast going forward, do you know we put together a pretty complete “Follow” page.  It tells you how to subscribe to all of our RSS feeds and shows how you can keep abreast of us on Twitter and Facebook.

Like I say, we know we have some flaws here and there.  We are nothing if not open to suggestions and ideas.  We’re glad you stopped by.  We hope you’ll stick with us.