The Local Beet & You/The Local Calender
The Local Beet has been filling the Internet with materials towards a practical approach to local eating for several months. Many of you have been following along. We recently made ourselves more official (thanks Dish and Gaper’s Block), and we know a few of you recently jumped aboard. We welcome all of you. Each week we post information on upcoming eat local events and related material to assist you in your attempts to find and eat real food. Before getting into this week’s calender, let’s look at some of the other ways the Beet helps.
OK, before telling you what’s here, let me tell you what will soon be here. We are in the process of building the most complete, user friendly guide to area farmer’s markets. We’ve already given you a guide to area CSAs (and addressed some of your CSA concerns). For those who do their local shopping at farmer’s markets, our resource will be invaluable.
Our primary way to promote local eating is to lead by example. Want to know what it’s like to subscribe to a CSA, well, we’ve been subscribers. In the middle of winter, we are making dinner from local foods. We try not do be didactic but instead emphasis how fun local food is.
We hold no monopoly over local food knowledge. A few weeks ago, a friend asked me why we did not include a certain restaurant in our (admittedly work in progress) list of local-friendly restaurants. It was no slight I assured her. Let us know any restaurants or shops that sell “our kind of food.” Please add generally to our resources. We have a forum to collect and disseminate data. If you need info, ask away.
That said, here’s what you can do in the upcoming weekend, and days ahead.
- For the second time this month, Green City Market opens its doors to winter shoppers. Green City is promising the appearance of Nichol’s Farm, one of the biggest and best sources for local foods. See what they have to offer. You will also find local meats, cheeses, grains and beans.
- For like the every time this month, Robin and the Church’s Center for Land & People have put together a winter market. They meet this Sunday in Chicago’s Old Irving Park neighborhood. Stop by and say hi to the Local Beet’s Vera V, and buy some of her hand spun yarn. Much other local food also for sale.
- Also going weekly, the Geneva Winter Market. We’d love a report back from this market.
- From twice a month, to weekly, to daily, Heritage Prairie Market in Elburn, IL is selling local foods even in the dead of winter. In addition, on Saturday, they host a class on using local pork.
- Also daily, of course, our friends at Green Grocer. And about daily, our friends downtown at the Farmstand.
- We so support the the Hideout’s Soup and Bread for the Greater Chicago Food Depository on Wednesdays. This forthcoming Wednesday the foodies at Gapers Block make soup.
- Chicago is awash in restaurant weeks. Like our pal Helen, we are partial to the Chicago Chef Week line-up, especially as three of our favorite places Vie, Mado and Blackbird (lunch only) are on board. Will it be possible to eat at home next week?
That’s a lot for now, so we’ll post a roadtrip idea some other time.
Follow our efforts to eat local on Twitter: http://twitter.com/LocalFamily
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Thanks for making me aware of Heritage Prairie Market in Elburn. My family still lives near there so I will be sure to check out the farm and market next time I’m visiting.