Year: 2015

Kitchfix-ing Prepared Meals in Chicago: A Good Food Festival Exhibitor Story

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

FamilyFarmed’s annual Good Food Festival & Conference is the oldest and largest event in the Midwest focused on local and sustainable food. At its heart are the producers, buyers, sellers and others who exhibit their businesses there. Josh Katt, chef/owner of a company that prepares and delivers delicious food from sustainably produced ingredients to homes and catered events in the Chicago area, shares his experiences as an exhibitor.

Guidance on New FSMA Produce Safety Rules from National Sustainable Ag Coalition

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently released new regulations for produce under the 2010 Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), bringing the difficult process of implementing this major law to closure. There is no better source for information about the new regulations than the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, which has published a two-part series of blog posts on the subject that we share with you here.

Good Food Begins with Good People: A Good Food Festival Exhibitor Story

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

FamilyFarmed’s annual Good Food Festival & Conference is the oldest and largest event in the Midwest focused on local and sustainable food. At its heart are the producers, buyers, sellers and others who exhibit their businesses there. Exhibitor registration is open for the 12th annual Good Food Festival & Conference, scheduled for March 24-26 in Chicago, and there is a $100 discount for participants who sign up by Dec. 9.

FamilyFarmed's Wholesale Success manual

FamilyFarmed To Expand Farmer Training in Agreements With USDA, Whole Foods Market

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

Chicago nonprofit FamilyFarmed will greatly expand its efforts to train farmers across the United States through cooperative agreements with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and a partnership with Whole Foods Market. These developments also sync up with FamilyFarmed’s own new Direct Market Success program — aimed at “growing young farmers” — supported by an IndieGoGo crowd-funding campaign.

Donate to FamilyFarmed’s IndieGoGo Drive — And Help Us #GrowYoungFarmers

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

FamilyFarmed has launched a fundraising campaign — titled “Help Us Grow Young Farmers!” — to support the latest expansion of its extensive efforts to train farmers across the United States so they can achieve sustainable success. The campaign, staged on the IndieGoGo crowd-funding site, is titled “Help Us Grow Young Farmers!”

Local Is On The Rise As Selling Point For Craft Distillers

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

Many of those involved in the Good Food movement believe that craft distilling deserves to be considered part of it, but the question has been raised about whether a distilled spirit needs to contain ingredients produced by local farmers in order to be considered truly local. Many producers now are touting local sourcing as a major selling point.

Chicago’s Darius Jones, Farm Aid Hero: The Life-Changing Power of Urban Farming

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

Farm Aid publishes a series of profiles on its website of “Farmer Heroes.” Their most recent profile is of Darius Jones, a young Chicagoan and friend of FamilyFarmed, for whom the “hero” title is apt. A troubled youth that resulted in him being incarcerated also set him on the path to the cutting edge of urban agriculture in his hometown.

Campaign to Forgive Young Farmers’ Student Loans Heads to Congress

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

A report by the National Young Farmers Coalition, titled Farming Is Public Service: A Case for Adding Farmers to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, shows that student loan debt is one of the key barriers preventing more would-be farmers and ranchers from entering agriculture.

Farm Aid 30’s Powerful Lessons About Family Farmers’ Challenges

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

As has been the case since its very beginning in 1985, the nonprofit Farm Aid organization’s annual schedule is built around a mega-star fundraising concert held in a different city every year. But when it came to Chicago for its milestone 30th anniversary concert, Farm Aid presented events that provided deep perspective on the farm crisis of the 1980s that gravely threatened tens of thousands of family farmers, and spurred the organization’s creation.

Sam Kass photo

AFP: Chefs Kass, Barber Spotlight Food Waste at UN “Trash Lunch”

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

The amount of edible food that goes to waste in United States and around the world is drawing increasing concern and attention from policymakers and producers alike. That was the inspiration behind a special “trash lunch” produced by famous chefs Sam Kass and Dan Barber for President Barack Obama and other world dignitaries Sunday.

Food Business Centers Move Out of the Kitchen: Guest Column

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

Next to Wal-Mart on the edge of rural Viroqua, Wisconsin, a 100,000-square-foot abandoned industrial building is now bustling with new businesses and jobs from an unconventional source: The local food and farming sector.

Guidance on New Federal Food Safety Rules From National Sustainable Ag Coalition

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Sept. 10 released new regulations under the 2010 Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), bringing the difficult process of implementing this major law closer to closure. And the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition — which has been deeply engaged in this rule-making process for five years as an advocate for small and medium-sized farms — this week has published a three-part series of blog posts on the subject that we share with you here.

The Stars Came Out For Family Farmers at Farm Aid 30: Photos

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

Farm Aid’s effort to assist family farmers and expand the Good Food movement continue year-round, so the organization started by big-hearted music legends isn’t just about the music. But Farm Aid’s annual benefit concert is what made it famous. And the 30th anniversary concert they staged in our hometown of Chicago on Saturday was one hell of a show.

Farm Aid 2015 in Chicago

Photos From Farm Aid 2015 Show The Event Is About the Movement and the Music

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

As always, the Farm Aid concert held Saturday in Chicago was one of the entertainment events of the year, featuring founders Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp, fellow Board member Dave Matthews, and numerous other great performers. But as this photo essay by Good Food on Every Table shows, Farm Aid is about much more than the music.

Farm Aid Week in Chicago: Join the Fun, Film Festival and Good Food Revolution

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

Chicago will host the 30th anniversary Farm Aid concert this Saturday (Sept. 19). Residents of the nation’s third most-populous city will have the opportunity to reacquaint with issues concerning family farmers, through the highest-profile — and most star-powered — event that benefits them and their causes. Farm Aid is not just about the music, though.

Living Water Farms

Living Water Farms: From Accelerator Fellow to Farm Aid Hero

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

Farm Aid’s website includes a number of stories about “Farmer Heroes,” and one recent post featured Living Water Farms — which just happened to be one of the nine businesses that participated as Fellows in the first year (2014-15) of FamilyFarmed’s Good Food Business Accelerator.

Mexican Corn

Rick Bayless: Overturned GMO Ban Is A Sad Day For Mexico

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

Rick Bayless’ mastery of regional Mexican cuisine has made him one of the nation’s most celebrated chefs. He also is a Good Food advocate who is greatly concerned with the welfare of family farmers and the integrity of the food we eat. He thus is distressed by a court ruling that overturned Mexico’s two-year-old ban on genetically modified (GMO) corn.

Guest Column: New Financial Data on Food Hubs to Help Local Food Sector Grow

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

The wholesale end of local food is a growing business sector that walks a fine line between profitability and social change, according to a new study from the Wallace Center, home of the National Good Food Network.

New Sugar Beet Store Sweetens Chicago’s Food Co-op Scene

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

Chicago has been something of a laboratory for the rise of the Good Food movement. Yet there has been one element of the movement that has been largely missing in Chicago: food cooperatives. Until now.

Chicago's Green City Market

Food Navigator-USA: Research Group Says Consumers Value ‘Local’ Label

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

Foods and beverages carrying a “local” label appear poised to become the leading symbol of trust and transparency to consumers as the authenticity halo of such terms as ‘organic’ and ‘natural’ lose momentum, claims market analyst The Hartman Group — as reported by the FoodNavigator-USA.com website.