Good Food for All

Good Food for All Weekly Digest: Crop Mob, Chicken Coop Tour and CFSC Conference

The Good Food for All Weekly Digest is cross-posted this week on ChicagoReGen.com. 

• Sweet Water Organics, an aquaponics company and urban farm in Milwaukee, is featured this week in The New York Times.

• Take part in Hen-apalooza this weekend, a Chicagoland Chicken Coop Tour of 16 different locations with backyard chickens.

• A new grocery store, “Fresh Family Foods,” founded by entrepreneur Quentin Love, opened near Chicago State University.

• On Oct. 10, 2010 (10-10-10), Chicago Oxfam Action Corps is organizing a crop mob to Spence Farm in Livingston County, IL.  Click here for more details.

• Helping Others Maintain Environmental Standards (HOMES) is opposing the proposed construction of a large-scale dairy farm in northern Illinois.  View the trends of the milk industry here.

• Illinois had one of the biggest losses of prime agricultural land being converted to developed land from 1982 to 2007, according to the National Resources Inventory.

• New postings of sustainable food jobs in the Chicago region are available on Good Food for All.

• The last day to register for the Community Food Security Coalition Conference is Friday, Oct. 1.

 

Daily Digest: Chicago Local Food Guide, Illinois Obesity Prevention Hearings, and Open Source Cooperative Software

A new local food website, Local Yolkel, founded by Cristal Mendlen, lists 2010 CSA listings, local food restaurants, and grocers located in the Chicago area. 

Logan Square Kitchen will host a pastry market, featuring local food vendors on Feb. 13. 

Illinois Department of Public Health will host three obesity prevention hearings (Chicago, Springfield, and Carbondale) in February and March.  To access the IDPH flyer, click here. 

UW-Madison Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems released a new report, "Scaling Up: Meeting the Demand for Local Food" which finds that "local food systems need to be scaled up or expanded from farmer-direct sales of small quantities of product to wholesale transactions." 

The Oklahoma Food Cooperative has its open-source software accessible here online. 

Link to: 

Sustainable Food Jobs & Opportunities

Daily Digest: Latino Farmer Training, Antitrust Lawsuits, and Fair Food Network

The Department of Justice filed its first anti-trust lawsuit in agriculture, against Dean Foods. The suit could have major implications for the dairy industry.  Attorneys general from Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin have all joined the suit. 

In Northfield, MN, the Rural Enterprise Center is training Latino farmers to raise organic chickens. 

Irv & Shelly's Fresh Picks has capitalized on the rising demand for organic food since starting their business in 2006.  

Many concerned farmers and organizations in the Midwest are calling on the EPA to review the effects of the herbicide atrazine. Read the full story here. 

Having relaunched the Fair Food Network, Oran Hesterman is seeking to promote local and healthy food initiatives in Detroit. 

Advocates for Urban Agriculture will host its winter meeting and potluck next Wednesday, Feb. 3. Details here. 

 

Daily Digest: USDA Farm to School Site Visits, Dill Pickle Food Co-op, and Sustainable Food Jobs

If your school district is interested in being a site visit for a USDA Farm to School Tactical Team, apply online today. Deadline is Jan. 31. More info is available here. 

USDA Economic Research Service released its farm income and agricultural outlook report for 2009. 

Dill Pickle Food Co-op, Chicago's newest community-owned grocery store, published its first newsletter, "The Brine", available online. 

Chicago Rarities Orchard Project (CROP) will host a fundraiser at Uncommon Ground on Jan. 25. Visit the Good Food for All Calendar for more upcoming events and workshops in the Chicago foodshed. 

City Farm and the Resource Center is looking for a Director of Urban Agriculture.  

Links to: 

Jobs & Opportunities 

Grants Database 

Daily Digest: Regional Foodsheds, Dill Pickle Co-op & Local vs. Non-Local Food Price Comparison

MIT and Columbia researchers propose that an integrated regional foodshed system can help combat obesity.  Click here to read more about additional models offered, such as mobile markets and food terminals.  

The Dill Pickle Food Co-op officially opened last week in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood.  To learn more about membership, visit the website. 

Is local food more expensive? The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture conducted a price comparison study between local and non-local foods purchased in Iowa.  Read the executive summary. 

Despite pledges from major food companies to advertise healthier foods to children, most products are still of low nutritional quality. 

Daily Digest: French Market at Ogilvie, Local Foods Farming Course, and Hillside Farmers Co-op

Last week, Chicago's first French Market opened at Ogilvie Transportation Center.  The market will take place year-round, featuring 25-30 local artisans. 

John Wood Community College in Quincy, IL is offering a Local Foods Farming Course.  

Edible Twin Cities features an article on the Hillside Farmers Co-op, which is developing a network of Latino-owned free-range poultry operations. 

What does "sustainable food" mean to restaurants? 

Listen to this audio clip on Young Farmers in America, featured on WNYC. 

(Photo: Hillside Farmers Cooperative, Inc.) 

Daily Digest: OneTray.org, Investing in Sustainable Agriculture, and Conservation Easements

Chicago was named one of the five best cities for urban gardening. (via)  

DePaul University's "Food for All Chicago" class visited the Cook County Jail vegetable garden as part of a food systems design course.  

Janine Yorio of NewSeed Advisors writes how sustainable agriculture investment is uniquely positioned to take off in the near future.  

The first national database of conservation easement information is set to debut in May 2011. 

Visit OneTray.org to find out about the Child Nutrition Act and to view the new campaign videos. 

As part of "Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food", the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service is proposing new rules to allow for interstate shipping of meat and poultry products.  This rule change could provide new economic opportunities for small meat and poultry establishments in Illinois, Indiana, and other states. 

For an excellent overview of KYF, read this story. 

Food Cooperative Beginning in Chicago

After the closing of Hyde Park Food Co-op in January 2008, there were no storefront food cooperatives left in Chicago. 

Starting this spring, the Dill Pickle Food Co-op will be renting a space at 3039 W. Fullerton Ave. The Chicago Tribune featured an article today, “Logan Square area to host new grocery dedicated to local and organic produce.”

 

Dill Pickle will be one of the few independent grocers in Chicago offering local and organic produce.  True Nature Foods, Green Grocer, and Newleaf Natural Grocery are other stores in Chicago offering local foods.

The cost of membership in Dill Pickle is $250, which can be paid over five years. Each member gets one vote in the coop. Memberships are still available.

 

Read more about Dill Pickle.