Tag: Good Food Festival

Tell William Cider at Farmhouse Chicago

Farmhouse Tavern’s Good Food Approach Sees Lake Michigan Region as Field of Plenty

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

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.'”

Sugar Beet Coop

SLoFIG Investment Group: Helping Put Money Where The Good Food Movement’s Mouth Is

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

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 cooking demo

Good Food Chef of the Year Paul Fehribach: Southern Tradition and Strong Values

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

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.

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.

New Holland Distillery of Michigan

The Localicious Party: Eat, Drink, Be Merry — Affordably

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

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.

The boom in farmers markets

First Person: How Farmers Markets Help Producers Scale Up for Success

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

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[…]

Pilot Light Chefs

Pilot Light Chefs Bring Lessons to Chicago Public Schools — and the Good Food Festival

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

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.

Local Foods Chicago retail store

Local Foods Store is a New Retail Wrinkle — And Just Maybe the Future of Supermarkets

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

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 of Chicago's The Butcher & Larder

Chicago Butcher Rob Levitt on the Meaning of Good Meat and His Local Foods Move

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

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.

Greg Wade of Publican Quality Bread

Chicago Baker Greg Wade: Making Interest in Good Bread Rise Naturally

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

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[…]

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.

Julia and Todd McDonald of Peasants' Plot CSA farm in Manteno, Illinois

First Person: CSA Farmers Band Together

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

by Julia McDonald, guest contributor Julia McDonald and her husband Todd McDonald own Peasants’ Plot, a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm in Manteno, Illinois that grows produce sustainably and sells it to subscribing consumers. In her contributed column, McDonald describes the rise of the CSA concept and its still yet-to-be-tapped potential; the emergence of the Read more about First Person: CSA Farmers Band Together[…]

The Dill Pickle Co-op of Chicago.

First Person: Cooperation Underscored in Chicagoland Food Co-op Coalition

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

While there has long been robust interest in food co-ops in a number of communities across the United States, Chicago has lagged a bit behind. But change is under way. Over the past couple of years, there’s been an explosion of interest in retail food co-ops in the metro Chicago area, which in turn has spawned the Chicagoland Co-op Coalition.

First Person: Top Chicago Butcher Envisions New Heights in Move to Local Foods Store

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

Rob Levitt of The Butcher & Larder began his culinary career with the aim of becoming a top chef. But he developed an expertise in charcuterie that ultimately piqued his interest in the art of butchery, and four years ago, he and wife Allie opened the Butcher & Larder and quickly developed it into one of Chicago’s favored spots among meat lovers. Now they are preparing for a big step up.

Tiny But Mighty Popcorn's Gene Mealhow

Heirloom Popcorn Gets New York Times Spotlight With Focus on Iowa’s Tiny But Mighty

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

The rising interest in heirloom (or heritage) varieties of food — and the important role that popcorn producers such as Iowa’s Tiny But Mighty have played in that trend — has caught the eye of The New York Times.

Viili heirloom yogurt

First Person: Fermenting Homemade Yogurt Made Easy

Posted on by FamilyFarmed.org

Branden Byers — who gave how-to presentations on the Good Food Commons at FamilyFarmed.org’s Good Food Festival last March — here explains how easy it is to make viili, an “heirloom” yogurt.