Category: Good Food and economic development

S2G — Good Food Business of the Year — Marries Values to Innovation

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

Seed 2 Growth Ventures — known more familiarly as S2G — is breaking new ground as a Chicago-based venture capital firm providing capital to cutting-edge food, restaurant and agriculture businesses in the Good Food sector. This innovative “Soil to Shelf” investment model is the reason why FamilyFarmed will present S2G Ventures with its 2017 Good Food Business of the Year Award on Thursday, at its annual Good Food Financing & Innovation Conference at Chicago’s UIC Forum.

Top Five Reasons to Attend Thursday’s Good Food Financing Conference

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

The Good Food Financing & Innovation Conference this Thursday (March 16) kicks off FamilyFarmed’s 13th Good Food Festival & Conference — the nation’s longest-running annual event focused on locally and sustainably produced food. Here are our five top reasons to attend

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.

Chicago Food Incubator The Hatchery May Get $1 Million to Build a Bigger Coop

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

The Hatchery, a food business incubator in Chicago, started up just last year with a small space but big plans. Those plans are now taking a giant step toward fruition with $2 million in economic development funding that is being provided by the City of Chicago. The Hatchery also will participate in FamilyFarmed’s Good Food Festival & Conference March 17 and 18.

FamilyFarmed Conference To Explore: Does Good Food = Local Food?

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

“Good Food movement” and “Local Food movement” are virtually synonymous to a lot of people. Yet the rising tide of consumer demand for Good Food is prompting more and more retailers, wholesalers and chefs to think globally while they act locally. This issue will be examined by the “Does Good Food Need to Be Local” panel at FamilyFarmed’s Good Food Financing & Innovation Conference on March 16.

Big Food and Good Food Panel a Highlight of March 16 Financing Conference

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

FamilyFarmed’s three-day, 13th annual Good Food Festival & Conference kicks off on Thursday, March 16 at Chicago’s UIC Forum with the annual Good Food Financing & Innovation Conference.

Free Admission, Rick Bayless Demo Highlight FamilyFarmed’s Good Food Festival

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

FamilyFarmed’s Good Food Festival — our big public celebration of the rising Good Food movement – is coming up on Saturday, March 18. And along with our typical lineup of great programs and features, we have new big incentive to attend: Admission is free!

I Heart Keenwah: The Untold Story of Quinoa

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

Most quinoa is used in savory dishes or as a side dish. But I Heart Keenwah, a Chicago-based producer that will again be exhibiting at FamilyFarmed’s Good Food Festival & Conference March 16-18, is making its mark with a line of quinoa-based snack foods and sweet treats (their current line of products is listed at the end of this article).

Tea Squares: Energy Snack Business Gives Caffeine Boost to Chicago’s South Side

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

The promise of healthier snack food alone would have made Chicago’s Tea Squares an excellent candidate for FamilyFarmed’s Good Food Business Accelerator. But Tea Squares’ social mission — which includes creating jobs and stimulating economic growth in its challenged South Side community — was a clincher.

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.

Growing Young Farmers: Tell Us Your Story

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FamilyFarmed is officially launching a Growing Young Farmers series on this Good Food on Every Table site. And we are crowd-sourcing for some of the great stories that we know are out there.

The Zen of Slow Cooking and the Spice of a Busy Life

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The spice mixes and recipes developed by the zen of slow cooking help busy people make easy slow cooker meals that enable them and their families to have delicious dinners waiting for them when they get home. And owners Meg Barnhart and Jane McKay continue their mission to provide employment and cooking lessons for developmentally challenged adults.

Good Food Business Accelerator’s Third Year Off to Strong Start

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

Nine competitively selected Fellows are participating in the third year of FamilyFarmed’s Good Food Business Accelerator, and they represent a wide range of exciting entrepreneurial ventures: from unique pies and clean meals to tea-infused energy bites and indigenous wild rice cereal, and from locally sourced juices and sparkling fruit tonics to pickled produce and sippable soups.

Cultivating Food — and Jobs — in Chicago’s Urban Fields

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

Chicago is a national leader in the urban agriculture movement, and FamilyFarmed recently conducted a bus tour of four of the leading sites that are growing food — and jobs — on the city’s South Side.

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

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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.

Accelerator Grads Explain Why Food Businesses Should Apply (by Monday)

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

FamilyFarmed’s Good Food Business Accelerator held on event to promote applications for its next program session, which runs from November to April. And the four program grads who took part in a panel discussion agreed: Entrepreneurs seeking to scale up their small Good Food business and dramatically expand their networks should apply.

Oregon Fishing Communities Build Business by Getting Along Swimmingly

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

Farms running community supported agriculture businesses, or CSAs, have multiplied across the United States in recent years. Under this practice, farms are able to raise revenues for their plantings by selling subscriptions to consumers, who receive boxes of products from the farm over the course of the season. Now the concept has spread to another food sector: sustainable seafood. And, as this article about southwest Oregon shows, businesses and other economic development boosters are working together to build a growing seafood market.

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.

Good Food, Good Move: Apply for FamilyFarmed’s Business Accelerator

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

FamilyFarmed’s Good Food Business Accelerator GFBA is accepting applications through Sept. 19 for its third cohort of competitively selected Fellows in its intensive six-month program, which will run from November to April.

The $500,000 Food to Market Challenge Picks Its Final Five

Posted on by FamilyFarmed

Variety is the word for the field of five finalists in the Food to Market Challenge. This competition will award $500,000 to the team deemed to have proposed the best solution to a problem affecting the supply chain for local and sustainable food in the Chicago region.