Category: Food activism

Frontera 30

Chef Matthias Merges’ Success Built On Base of Social Conscience: A Frontera 30 Story

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

Matthias Merges is a leader in Chicago’s culinary community. Matthias also, from very early on, has been deeply committed to making Chicago and its communities better. So it’s not surprising that Chef Rick Bayless, was eager to have Matthias participate in the Frontera 30th Anniversary Celebration, a joint fundraiser for his Frontera Farmer Foundation and FamilyFarmed, which will be held at The Art Institute of Chicago on Sunday, April 30.

Frontera 30

Matthias Merges and Good Food, From Trotter’s to Solo Stardom: A Frontera 30 Story

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

Matthias Merges is one of the most important figures in the rise of Chicago to its status as a world-class culinary capital. after a 14-year stint at Charlie Trotter’s — the last 12 of those at the world-renowned restaurant’s chef de cuisine — Matthias went out his own in 2010, and soon after opened Yusho, focused on Japanese street food, and it quickly became the flagship of his extensive Folkart restaurant group. Matthias will be a participating chef at the Frontera 30th Anniversary Celebration fundraiser on April 30 at The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago’s Abra Berens Knows Both Ends of Farm to Table: A Frontera 30 Chef Story

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

There are many “farm to table” chefs in our hometown of Chicago, but Abra Berens embodies both ends of that equation.Abra is the executive chef at Stock Café at Local Foods. She also is so committed to local and sustainable food that she started Bare Knuckle Farm, located in the northern part of her home state of Michigan. Abra will participate the Frontera 30th Anniversary Celebration, a joint fundraiser for his Frontera Farmer Foundation and FamilyFarmed, which will take place on Sunday, April 30 at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Top 5 Reasons to Attend Saturday’s Good Food Festival

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

The three pillars of the Good Food movement are a healthier, a more environmentally sustainable, and more economically dynamic food system that puts Good Food on Every Table. This year’s Festival will put a special accent on that first pillar — Good Food’s massive contribution to building a society with healthier, happier people and lower health care costs — with panels on Good Food is Good Medicine and Food and Mood.

Top Five Reasons to Attend Friday’s Good Food Trade Show & Policy Conference

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

The Good Food Trade Show & Policy Conference is coming up at Chicago’s UIC Forum on Friday, the middle day of FamilyFarmed’s three-day Good Food Festival & Conference. Here’s a quick tour of the top 5 reasons to attend on Friday.

Good Food Fest Raffle

Good Food Fest Raffle Features Tix to Rick Bayless, Jack Johnson Spectaculars

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

FamilyFarmed’s Good Food Festival is holding a fundraising raffle for the first time. And we’re pulling out the stops to persuade you to participate. The Grand Prize is two tickets to The Frontera 30th Anniversary Celebration that FamilyFarmed is co-producing with storied chef Rick Bayless on April 30. Second prize is two tickets to music star Jack Johnson’s June 2 concert in Chicago.

Farm bill

The Future of Good Food in an Era of Political Change

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

A new federal farm bill is on course to be enacted as early as next year. Sustainable farmers and Good Food advocates would have needed to be on guard to protect these programs under any circumstances. But with the volatile political environment in Washington, D.C., supporters of these programs will need to be especially engaged. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition has been the leading federal policy advocates for the Good Food movement for 30 years. Wes King, an NSAC policy specialist explains the political landscape for the 2018 farm bill and what advocates need to do to prepare.

Great Food, Values Earn Honey Butter Fried Chicken Our 2017 Good Food Chef Award

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

Christine Cikowski and Josh Kulp of Chicago’s Honey Butter Fried Chicken will jointly receive FamilyFarmed’s 2017 Good Food Chef of the Year Award on March 18 at the Good Food Festival — not only for their delicious food, but because of their sustainable and local sourcing and their social conscience.

Good Food Earns Its Metal at Chicago’s Jean Banchet Awards

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

Interest in a better way to eat is ingrained in the culinary culture in Chicago. So the Jean Banchet Culinary Awards ceremony — which doubles as a fundraiser for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation — is always a good day for Good Food.

Rumi Spice: Making Afghanistan and the World Better, One Saffron Thread at a Time

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

Those of us who are fully engaged in the Good Food movement get to work with a whole lot of bold people. But the co-founders of Rumi Spice, veterans of the Afghan war, are in a league of their own: They pay Afghan farmers a premium to grow flowers that produce saffron rather than the opium poppies that produce deadly heroin and finance terrorist organizations.

Weekly Link Roundup – November 11

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

The best Good Food news we’ve read this week:    Midwest Good Food Trial run tests train travel for Chicago-bound farm products, Illinois Farmer Today Chatham Entrepreneur Just Got ‘Tea Squares’ In 6th Whole Foods, DNAInfo How a Mexican American Farmer Is Making Organic Food More Accessible, Takepart Ten Questions with Harry Rhodes, Executive Director Read more about Weekly Link Roundup – November 11[…]

Weekly Link Roundup – November 4

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

The best Good Food news we’ve read this week:    Midwest Good Food Turning Detroit’s Abandoned Homes Into Greenhouses, The Atlantic Milwaukee County To Be Home To Largest Urban Organic Fruit Orchard In US, Wisconsin Public Radio National Good Food Conversation Why Washington’s First Lady is Growing Her Own Grains, Civil Eat A Sustainable Food Read more about Weekly Link Roundup – November 4[…]

Weekly Link Roundup – October 7

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

The best Good Food news we’ve read this week:    Midwest Good Food City of the big food companies once more?, Crain’s Here’s How Scraps Can Help Grow The Food Of The Future, HuffPost Meet the Fruit: Aronia, a “Superfood” Native to the American Midwest, Modern Farmer Real Good Juice Co. Expands To Lakeview, Coming Read more about Weekly Link Roundup – October 7[…]

Weekly Link Roundup – September 30

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

The best Good Food news we’ve read this week:    Midwest Good Food Rooftop wheat fields elevate Chicago’s urban farming scene to exciting new heights, Inhabitat In Englewood, Whole Foods opens to cheers, high hopes, Chicago Tribune Here Are 14 Local Products At The New Englewood Whole Foods, DNAInfo Will selling to ConAgra affect Bayless’ Read more about Weekly Link Roundup – September 30[…]

New Whole Foods Store on Chicago’s South Side Spurs Hope for Rebirth

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

There was an air of promise that surrounded Wednesday morning’s grand opening of the Whole Foods Market store in the troubled Englewood neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side.

Young Farmer Finds Inspiration Right at Home in Indiana

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

FamilyFarmed’s Good Food on Every Table website is launching a new series titled “Growing Young Farmers.” This series will provide a platform for members of this new generation to discuss why they have chosen farming, the opportunities that motivate them, and the challenges as well. And we could not be happier to kick off the series than with this following essay written by Kara Gunthorp of Indiana’s Gunthorp Farms, a leader in sustainable livestock production.

Weekly Link Roundup – August 12

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

The best Good Food news we’ve read this week:    FamilyFarmed A Start-Up Turns to Saffron to Help Afghanistan Regrow, New York Times Midwest Good Food Goodbye, Orange Julius, hello, Furious Spoon (about the recent popularity of food halls), Crain’s They Might be Giant: Rob Levitt talks to Jason Vincent and Ben Lustbader, Fooditor This Read more about Weekly Link Roundup – August 12[…]

Weekly Link Roundup – July 29

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

Here’s the best Good Food news we’ve read this week.    Midwest Good Food Young urban farmers look to help people in need, WGN Ex-teacher goes into hydroponic farming, The Beacon News Veggie Bingo Raises Support for Chicago’s Community Gardens, CivilEats This Healthy Vending Machine Sells Salad for Up to 60% Less Than Fast Casual Read more about Weekly Link Roundup – July 29[…]

Uncommon Ground: 25 Years as a Chicago Farm to Table Leader

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

There are few people in the restaurant business who have kept farm to table real better — or longer — than Chicago’s Helen and Mike Cameron. They opened Uncommon Ground in 1991 and ever since have been blazing trails in providing diners with locally and sustainable produced food. Read about their ahead-of-the-curve experiences and their 25th anniversary events in the latest installment of our “Farm to Table: Keeping It Real” series.

Chicago Chef Abra Berens’ Magic Is Making Food Waste Disappear

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

“Minimizing food waste is the next round of work that we have to do, both in the farm to table movement and in our food culture generally,” says Abra Berens, chef of Stock Cafe at the innovative Local Foods market in Chicago. Read about her devotion to locally and sustainably sourced food, and to not letting any of it go to waste, in the latest installment of our “Farm to Table: Keeping It Real” series.