Category: Good Food movement

Gov. Bruce Rauner visit to Good Food Festival & Conference

Policy Makers Increasingly Recognize That Good Food Is A Movement

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

by Bob Benenson, FamilyFarmed There is ample statistical, financial, and anecdotal support for the contention that the Good Food movement is, indeed, a movement — one that is expanding markets for healthier food, produced more sustainably, more humanely, and with greater fairness to small farmers, entrepreneurs, and farm workers. This Good Food sector is engaging the interest and participation of millions of Read more about Policy Makers Increasingly Recognize That Good Food Is A Movement[…]

Baker Greg Wade Master Class at Good Food Festival

Baker Greg Wade Master Class at Good Food Festival in Photos

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

Greg Wade, the head baker for Chicago’s Publican Quality Bread and the One Off Hospitality Group, conducted a Master Class in bread baking at FamilyFarmed’s Good Food Festival Saturday morning at UIC Forum.

Illinois Gov. Rauner Voices Support for Goals of Good Food Movement at Conference

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner on Friday told attendees of FamilyFarmed’s 11th annual Good Food Festival & Conference that he backs the goals of the Good Food movement for a healthier and more sustainable food system, and pledged to do everything he can to help.

Good Food Festival 2015 logo

The Good Food Festival’s E Pluribus Unum: Many Great Programs, One Great Event

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

Each of the many individual elements packed into the Good Food Festival & Conference would make a great stand-alone event.

Greg Wade of Publican Quality Bread

Top 10 Reasons to Attend the Good Food Festival!

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

We have been writing so much about FamilyFarmed’s 11th annual Good Food Festival & Conference March 19-21 that we want to make sure that the main events designed for the general public do not get lost in the shuffle. So here is our list of the top 10 reasons you should attend the Localicious food and drink tasting event and the Good Food Festival.

Shedd Aquarium Right Bite card January 2015

Shedd Aquarium’s Right Bite Helps Put Seafood Sustainability on the Shopping List

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

Millions of people get their most up-close-and-personal experiences with aquatic ecosystems by visiting aquariums. It is natural, therefore, that aquariums also serve as platforms for informing consumers about sustainable seafood practices. Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium is one that makes a major effort, with its Right Bite program.

Purple Asparagus classroom event

Purple Asparagus at the Good Food Festival: They Love Kids, You’ll Love Them

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

Unlike a certain purple dinosaur, Chicago’s Purple Asparagus — a nonprofit group that uses fun and age-appropriate activities to teach kids about Good Food — is named for a real plant that is a springtime delicacy. That is kind of the point. Teaching children from very young ages about the benefits of real, whole, wholesome food is crucial to their developing healthy eating habits as they grow up, and that is the core of Purple Asparagus’ mission.

GMO OMG promo

Multi-Faceted Trade Day at Good Food Festival & Conference Captures Movement’s Span

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

There are so many elements to the Good Food movement that it would be hard for any one event to capture its breadth. But “Trade Day” at FamilyFarmed’s Good Food Festival & Conference March 20 — comes as close as can be to a comprehensive overview of this sweeping effort to change the way we eat for the better.

Alan Shannon of the USDA Midwest office

First Person: Making Farm to Fork the Table Setting for America’s Schoolchildren

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

Across our country, more and more schools have begun to source foods locally and to provide educational activities to students — a movement often called “farm to school.” Farm to school is growing, with major benefits for children, schools, families, farmers, food manufacturers, communities, and businesses.

Good Food Accelerator

Jenny Yang’s Growing Tofu Business is an Immigrant Food Story With a Modern Twist

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

The stories of immigrants achieving success by making the foods of their native lands are parts of the history and social fabric of the United States. But Jenny Yang of Chicago’s Phoenix Bean tofu has an immigrant food story with a modern twist. While millions of people have come to America to escape poverty or oppression, Yang first came to the U.S. from her native Taiwan a quarter-century ago in pursuit of higher education.

Farmer Gene Mealhow of Tiny But Mighty.

Whet Your Appetite for the Upcoming Good Food Festival & Conference

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

The schedule for this year’s 11th annual Festival & Conference, which takes place March 19-21 at the UIC Forum on the campus of University of Illinois at Chicago, has been released. We hope the details will whet your appetite for the event and persuade you to join this celebration of the fast-growing Good Food movement.

FamilyFarmed's Wholesale Success manual

Wholesale Success and You: Building the Supply of Local Food

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

Retail outlets, restaurants, schools, and other wholesale buyers have a difficult time finding enough local food to meet the fast-rising consumer demand. FamilyFarmed is addressing that issue through its Wholesale Success program, which has scheduled workshops around the country over the course of this year.

Robert Birnecker and Sonat Birnecker Hart of Chicago's Koval Distillery

How Chicago’s Koval Distillery Launched a Local Craft Spirits Boom — and Its Own Competition

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

It was just seven years ago when the married couple of Sonat Birnecker Hart and Robert Birnecker decided to give up high-level professional careers in the Washington, D.C., area, and start up their Koval Distillery in Chicago. As recent as that seems, they did not join the craft spirits movement within the city of Chicago. They launched it.

Mark Schneider of Living Waters Farms

Illinois’ Living Water Farms Hits Accelerator to Expand Year-Round Local Growing

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

The goal of creating a year-round local food culture in the nation’s northern regions is hindered by relatively short growing seasons. But the increasing number of indoor growing facilities — such as Illinois’ Living Water Farms — is helping to change that.

Good Food Business Accelerator logo

Good Food Business Accelerator Fellows Have Diverse Interests But One Goal: Success

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

There is plenty of diversity among the Fellows in FamilyFarmed’s new Good Food Business Accelerator program. But they share a drive to succeed a commitment to expand the Good Food movement.

The National Restaurant Association's Top 10 Food Trends for 2015

Good Food Movement Principles Star in 2015 Restaurant Trends

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

The National Restaurant Association’s annual predictions of top culinary trends are out — and it looks like 2015 will be another great year for the fast-growing Good Food movement.

Sarah Katz

First Person: How Your Food Business Can Nourish Its Bottom Line Over the Holidays

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

Opportunity awaits you if you own a food-related business if you’re prepared to compete in the crowded holiday marketplace. If you want to have a successful holiday season, now’s the time to get started! Here are some tips.

Kora Lazarski

First Person: How a Young Survivor Pursues a Natural Life Unmodified in a World of Change

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

A mosquito-borne illness picked up during a horseback ride in Haiti turned critical for contributing writer Kora Lazarski. It prompted her to think profoundly about the impact of man on nature, and ultimately led to the career she is pursuing in the natural foods and products industry.

Green Chicago Restaurant Coalition's Green Pumpkin Gala

First Person: Chicago’s Green Pumpkin Gala Highlights Restaurants’ Sustainable Commitment

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

The Green Chicago Restaurant Coalition is throwing its first annual Green Pumpkin Gala this Thursday. It will be fun with a purpose: to highlight efforts by many people engaged in the restaurant industry to make the nation’s food system more environmentally sustainable.

Henry Schwartz of MobCraft brewery in Madison, Wisconsin

Crowdsourcing Ferments Financing — and Recipes — for Wisconsin’s MobCraft Brewery

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

MobCraft, a start-up craft brewery in Madison, Wisconsin, has gotten some buzz lately because of their efforts at crowdfunding equity investment. But crowdsourcing has been integral to their operations — even their beer recipe development — since the get-go.