The rapid growth of the Good Food movement was reflected at FamilyFarmed’s annual Good Food Festival & Conference, which took place last Thursday through Saturday — not only in the big attendance turnout, but in the intensity of interest among the general public in eating better foods and, in many cases, making those better food themselves at home.
Rob Levitt, who co-owns Chicago’s popular The Butcher & Larder meat shop with his wife Allie, was very generous with his time prior to his charcuterie workshop at FamilyFarmed’s Good Food Festival Saturday. It turns out that Rob is also very generous with recipes.
by Bob Benenson, FamilyFarmed The strong interest of many chefs in sourcing local and sustainably produced ingredients has played a big role in the rapid growth of the Good Food movement. So it is only natural that culinary stars would also play a big role at FamilyFarmed‘s Good Food Festival, the big public celebration of Read more about Paul Fehribach Good Food Chef Award, Pilot Light Demo at Good Food Festival[…]
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 Sen. Richard J. Durbin visited FamilyFarmed’s Good Food Festival & Conference Friday afternoon, praising the advances made by the Good Food movement. His visit came hours after an appearance at the event by Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner.
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.
Almost every major city has a convention center. And in recent years, concern has risen — among the managers of these show places and the organizations with which they partner — about reducing the costs and the environmental and social impacts of waste resulting from the big events they stage.
There are plenty of business success stories that emerge in the food world. To be a Good Food success story — like the four featured at FamilyFarmed’s Good Food Financing & Innovation Conference in Chicago Thursday — has a special requirement: a commitment to the values of local, sustainable, natural, and healthy food that is the foundation of the fast-growing Good Food movement.
FamilyFarmed’s Good Food Festival & Conference kicked off a packed three-day schedule Thursday with its Good Food Financing & Innovation Conference. The program featured an introduction to the nonprofit organization’s new Good Food Business Accelerator.
Each of the many individual elements packed into the Good Food Festival & Conference would make a great stand-alone event.
T.J. Callahan, the founder and owner of the Farmhouse Tavern restaurants in downtown Chicago and suburban Evanston is a bit wary of the “farm to table” label, which some critics say has been overused to the point of becoming a cliche. “Farm to table, it’s such a nebulous kind of concept,” Callahan said in an interview with Good Food on Every Table. “So we’ve called ourself, from day one, a ‘Midwestern craft tavern.'”
Finding sourcing for financial capital has been one of the major dilemmas that many startups (and even some better-established players) face in the fast-growing Good Food movement. Fortunately, the money gap is starting to be filled by venture capital groups that see the business potential in the Good Food movement. Chicago’s SLoFIG, an acronym for Sustainable LOcal Food Investment Group, was one of the first to see — and seize — the opportunity.
Paul Fehribach of Big Jones restaurant in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood will receive FamilyFarmed’s Good Food Chef of the Year award during the Good Food Festival, Saturday, March 21 at Chicago’s UIC Forum. He earned the award because of his culinary skills — steeped in the traditions of Southern cooking — and also because of the strong values that prompt him to seek out locally and sustainably produced ingredients, including many rare or heirloom varieties.
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.
What would you pay to welcome the glorious arrival of spring with one of Chicago’s best annual food and drink tasting events?
Most sampling events these days will set you back three figures. But Localicious — on the evening of Friday, March 20 at Chicago’s UIC Forum — is a great night of eating and drinking great local products, for just $80.
by Pat Stieren, guest contributor Pat Stieren is executive director of the Illinois Farmers Market Association (IFMA), which is presenting a conference on Saturday, March 21 at the UIC Forum on the University of Illinois at Chicago campus. The event coincides with FamilyFarmed‘s Good Food Festival at the same location. To purchase tickets to attend the Read more about First Person: How Farmers Markets Help Producers Scale Up for Success[…]
Would you like to hang out with and learn from some of Chicago’s best-known chefs? And have you ever wanted to be a kid again? You might, then, be a little jealous of the Chicago schoolchildren who get to participate in the chef-driven Pilot Light educational program.
The new Local Foods store being built in Chicago may turn out to be something of village square for the local Good Food movement, bringing together and helping to boost the kinds of small food businesses people used to frequent. And it could, just possibly, serve as a template for the supermarket of the future.
Rob Levitt established himself as a major figure on Chicago’s food scene when he and his wife Allie opened The Butcher & Larder meat shop four years ago. Here Rob Levitt discusses his somewhat unexpected career as a butcher and his hopes for bigger things with his upcoming move, expected this spring, into a larger space in the new Local Foods retail store.
by Bob Benenson, FamilyFarmed Bread, especially bread made with wheat flour, has come under scrutiny in recent years. Some nutritional experts and consumers have turned against it, viewing it as the root of a variety of health issues, from gluten sensitivity to weight gain. These sentiments spawned a rapid rise in interest in gluten-free bread Read more about Chicago Baker Greg Wade: Making Interest in Good Bread Rise Naturally[…]