From the category archives:

Local food production

Locally grown, locally produced foods taking hold

by Cassandra West September 18, 2011 Chicago
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Take a look around and perhaps you’ve noticed a trend we’ve been following recently: the growth of locally produced specialty foods and drinks. Increasingly, local foods entrepreneurs are moving beyond selling produce fresh from the garden or farm. Many are now turning locally grown produce into condiments, teas, seasonings, herbal tinctures, bath and body care [...]

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Cook County seeks public input on proposed food policy council

by Cassandra West September 17, 2011 Agribusiness

The Cook County Department of Public Health is proposing the creation of a food policy council for Cook County. The food policy council would be an official committee that explores cross-agency and cross-jurisdictional food issues and makes recommendations to the Cook County Board of Commissioners. Do you live or work in Cook County, Illinois? If [...]

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Chicago-area Whole Foods Markets team with Family Farmed to sell more locally grown produce

by Cassandra West March 17, 2011 local agriculture
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During the winter months, many of the tomatoes in local Whole Foods Markets are imported from Mexico. This summer expect to find more Illinois-grown tomatoes in Chicago-area Whole Foods Markets. You can also expect more locally grown asparagus, melons, cucumbers and fruits, too. Through a partnership with FamilyFarmed.org, Whole Foods Markets has plans to increase [...]

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Author Elaine Weiss: Women have rich history in local foods, urban gardening

by Lori Rotenberk October 5, 2010 Agriculture

The food movement as we know it today really isn’t that new. During World War I, the Women’s Land Army, also known as the “farmettes” and “soldiers of the soil” came together to help feed the nation. They helped harvest cherries in Michigan and cotton in Georgia. Their work and struggle is documented in “Fruits [...]

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Hen-apalooza: Chicago’s 1st annual Chicken Coop Tour

by Lori Rotenberk October 3, 2010 Chicken farmers
chickens

Whether you’re already raising chickens or pondering keeping a backyard coop and have questions, think Hen-apalooza. What? Hen-apalooza, the first annual Chicagoland Chicken Coop Tour debuting on Sunday, Oct. 3, from 10 a.m. To 3 p.m., bringing you beak-to-beak with 15 backyard coops as well as their owners. Founded by the Chicago Chicken Enthusiasts Google [...]

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Evanston City Council passes hen ordinance, 6-3

by Lori Rotenberk September 28, 2010 Chicken farmers
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By Lori Rotenberk, Seeding Chicago Raising chickens is now legal in Evanston, a move that makes it one of the many cities nationally that have passed laws allowing residents to keep hens. Before a 6-3 vote by the Evanston City Council in favor of the ordinance, local alderman approved additional amendments that include a $50 [...]

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Logan Square orchard project moves closer to reality

by Lori Rotenberk September 24, 2010 Community
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By Lori Rotenberk, Seeding Chicago staff Pocked and puddled, all that grows in this vacant site along the Blue Line at Milwaukee Avenue and Logan Boulevard is the amount of debris. Sodden paper, junk food wrappers, a cluster of spent tires set against a graffiti coated concrete wall. Yet, a sign of hope sprouts. Literally. [...]

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Backyard chicken enthusiasts unite to make chicken farming legal in Evanston

by Lori Rotenberk September 12, 2010 Chicken farmers
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By Lori Rotenberk Seeding Chicago staff They rise early, keep a low-profile and give tours at dusk. Some are professors and others laborers but all share a common stubbornness: “We’re keeping them whether it’s legal or not,” they say, referring to the chickens they keep in their back yards. Proponents of the urban farm movement, [...]

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