The U.S. Department of Agriculture continues to make good on its promise to boost local, sustainable agriculture. Last week, as part of the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food program, it awarded the Illinois Department of Agriculture more than $435,000 to help make locally grown produce more widely available, part of $49 million in grants nationwide.
The dollars will fund 28 projects statewide. Among them: Chicago's Green City Market will get $25,000 to develop its youth project, printed materials, a e-newsletter and a vendor survey; the Illinois Specialty Growers Association will get $20,000 for its annual organic growers conference, and nearly $84,000 will go to CBS Broadcasting to roll out a "Buy Illinois, Choose Illinois" ad campaign.
Mon dieu! Eight years of developing and delays aside, the Chicago French Market continues to surpass our expectations, and it's not even opening until mid-November.
The European-inspired, year-round indoor market, which will encompass 15,000 square feet in the Ogilvie Metra station, has added 16 more local vendors to its roster. They include Delightful Pastries, whose Fat Tuesday paczki are, for lack of better words, the bomb (that's proprietor Dobra Bielinski in the photo below); Fumare, a purveyor of cured and smoked meats; and Saigon Sisters, two sisters (and their mom) cooking up pho, banh mi and other Vietnamese items.
We admit -- we're not familiar with the bulk of these vendors, who also will offer tacos, Korean food, Belgian fries, freshly squeezed juices, baked goods, popcorn, seasonal produce, vegan food and flowers.
"It's a big day for the Green City Market," says Allen, who got the news via an early morning e-mail.
Ann Wright, the USDA's deputy undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs, was just in Chicago last week for the Chefs Collaborative National Summit, where she detailed some of the "Know Your Food, Know Your Farmer" intiative, which includes these farmers market grants as well as a farm-to-school program.
Allen says a good portion of the money will go toward setting up a scholarship program for farmers who sell at Green City Market to attend seminars and conferences that will help them on their way to becoming certified organic or sustainable.
The market is requiring that all of their participating farmers and producers be third party-certified by 2012.
"For some of these small family farms, we know it's a big ask, and since I took on this position last May, I really wanted to find ways to provide outreach to help them," Allen says.
The USDA funds also will help the market promote its electronic benefits transfer program -- which was on hold this past year -- for customers on the federal food stamp program.
"We're hoping to encourage folks on limited incomes that Green City Market is a place where they can come and educate them about nutrition and eating better," Allen says. "I don't think eating better is a luxury that should be available to certain parties and not others."
In all, the USDA awarded 86 grants totaling $4.5 million to farmers markets in 37 states.
A farmers market just outside of the White House gates will welcome its first customers on Thursday and state-inspected meat processors this week can start shipping their meat across state lines.
Those two bits of welcome news are part of "Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food," a federal intiative announced today in Chicago to promote local, sustainable agriculture.
Ann Wright, deputy undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, detailed some of the programs kicking in this week or very soon -- all approved under the 2008 Farm Bill -- at a national summit of chefs, purveyors and other food industry types at Kendall College. Those programs include farmers market promotion grants and a farm -to-school program.
The USDA will launch a Web site Friday that will serve as a sort of "one-stop shopping site" detailing the various USDA programs and grant money available. "Those eligible to compete for these grants are those working for local and regional food systems," Wright said.
"It's a USDA-wide effort to create new economic opportunities by better connecting consumers with local producers and starting a national conversation about the importance of understanding where your food comes from and how it gets on your plate," Wright said.
Wright could not put a dollar amount on how much will go toward the "Know Your Farm" program but said there are $65 million in grants being announced this week alone.
The weekly White House farmers market will run "well into fall" and will feature produce from local farms, but Wright did not know just how many vendors will call the market home.
By guest blogger and New York writer Seanan Forbes
There's something intensely satisfying about flatbread. It's not just the snap between the teeth. Some of the satisfaction comes before the stuff hits the table.
It's a terrific base for kitchen play; toppings can make the flatbread as tart, sweet, salty or spicy as you like. It has much of the satisfaction of deep-dish pizza - but it's easier to take flatbread in fat- and calorie-sane portions.
Flatbread is something more readily associated with Europe than with the deep south, but chef Scott Maki of Rambla, 217 Camp St. in New Orleans, is happy to bring all traditions to the plate. One of his most popular flatbreads features homemade fig jam, flecks of Valdeon cheese and hand-torn Serrano ham. Crisp, soft, sweet, salt, fat ... these slim portions are anything but lean on taste and texture.
If you want to bypass the Valdeon buy local, the Green City Market has cheesy options that Lyle Allen, the market's executive director, recommends.
With more than 100 years in the cheese business, Brunkow Cheese of Wisconsin has a fine line of artisan cheeses and a deservedly loyal following.
Goat's milk cheese plays well with figs. On Saturdays at the market, look for Capriole Farmstead Goat Cheese. "Judith Schad is an icon in the cheese world," Allen says. "Her goat cheese is really special."
Saxon Homestead Creamery is new to the Market, and Allen says they use only artisan-crafting methods.
As to the fig jam, Maki has made it with fresh figs and with dried, so this flatbread is in season all year 'round.
By guest blogger and New York writer Seanan Forbes
NEW ORLEANS -- The anniversary of Hurricane Katrina has been all over the news of late, and the people of New Orleans are remembering - even more keenly than usual - that disaster and its aftermath.
The gulf city has always made the most of what was available, and has never held with waste. Chefs were swift to return to New Orleans after Katrina; they saw it as vital to put food - good local food - back on the table. After all, there are few finer communities than those that gather to share meals.
Thinking of bringing NoLa north, I turned to Lyle Allen, executive director of Chicago's Green City Market, to turn New Orleans recipes into feasts that celebrate both New Orleans' culture and Chicago's fabulous food supply.
The chefs of New Orleans aren't big on postponing pleasure. Nobody gives a more ebullient expression of that attitude than chef Kevin Belton of Li'l Dizzy's, 1500 Esplanade Ave. in New Orleans.
In that chef's world, food and life are made for enjoying. If there's an ingredient you don't like, substitute something else. Not too keen on spice? Tone it down. Don't like that sausage? Use another. Make the food the way you like it, and make enough to share, from starters to sweets.
Belton's bread pudding is a reason to save room for dessert. It's as far from the "slabs of stale bread soaked in custard" standard as a New Orleans summer is from a Chicago winter - although it's far easier to take than either extreme.
Instead of being cut into slices, the bread is crumbled. The small pieces meld and become carriers for whatever flavors you want to add.
Belton's a big believer in tradition and creativity. Before handing over the recipe, he draws a pencil line halfway down. From the line up (from bread through vanilla), the ingredients are mandatory. After that, it is cook's choice. Belton grins as he lists some of the things he's used in making bread pudding: chocolate, fruit, nuts, spices - and broken-up chunks of pie.
When in NoLa, follow Belton's lead and use Hubig's Pies. They come in twelve flavors; choose the one that fits your mood.
Bring it closer to home with a trip to the Green City Market to get a Hoosier Mama Pie. "Paula Haney [pictured] makes fabulous pies," Allen says. "She's renowned for her apple pie." That may be true, but Allen especially likes Haney's chess pie, an old-school vinegar pie. Enjoy the pie fresh, and crumble the leftovers (if there are any) into bread pudding.
As to the mandatory ingredients, Nordic Creamery just brought butter to the Market. Allen says it's worth a trip just to buy that butter, and their cheese is "just tremendous". It would be good on that apple pie - the part that doesn't make it into the pudding.
Buy the best and use it all. A true son of his city, Belton would approve.
Food writer Ronni Lundy authored an entire book on tomatoes. She knows a thing or two about them.
In a delightful conversation with the New Mexico resident (but forever Southerner) about today's story on 50 ways to have your tomatoes, we got on the subject of not-quite-heirloom tomatoes.
See, as heirlooms have built up a following at farmers markets, Lundy says mass tomato producers have, not surprisingly, gotten into the game, watering down the definition of 'heirloom' that already is a bit jumbled.
(Generally, the term refers to the seeds of non-hybrid plants that have been passed down within families, ethnic groups or a specific region over a long period of time. Some say true heirlooms must have been grown for 50 years. Others say they must have been passed down within a single family).
"What's happening now," Lundy says, "is they're breeding things like Cherokee Purples with a more standard supermarket tomato to create an heirloom that has the color of an heirloom and a little more of the shape, but conforms more to supermarket tomato. Reproduction tomatoes, that's what we call them.
"And what's really distressing about it is you go to your farmers market and the guy there is selling incredible heirloom tomatoes for three dollars a pound, and then you go to the superstore, and you see the same brand, and it's got kind of the same colors but looks like it's got better shape, and it's only a buck a pound.
"The reason not to buy it is it's not the same tomato."
We know what she's talking about. We've seen tomatoes marked "heirloom" (though never bought them) at our neighborhood Dominick's. On the one hand, we were pleasantly surprised the first time we saw them. On the other hand, we knew it would feel bizarre buying them when we could just buy them at our farmers market a mile away and know exactly where our cash was going.
The other thing Lundy said that we can't get out of our heads: "An ugly tomato is actually a better tomato."
On another tomato note:
We offered 50 tomato tips -- a fun list to put together but by no means, the be-all, end-all. Chef Ina Pinkney gave us the following omelet recipe, but it was past our deadline and too late to include. She's excused, though -- she says she was just waiting until the good tomatoes came in to make this for breakfast the other day.
Got other favorite ways to eat tomatoes? Please share.
Overheard while getting lunch at the sandwich shop the other day: "I'm going to the Green City Market barbecue!"
Why is this significant? One, because if you're a foodlover, the Green City Market Chef's BBQ -- at 6 tonight in Lincoln Park -- is the one local foodie event worth its weight in gold, or Euros, or organic pattypan squash, however you see it. The bucolic setting, the who's who of Chicago chefs, the food and wine, the farmers (who, we might add, are the real rock stars here) ... everyone's drinking the happy juice. This is summer at its best.
Two, because if you did what you were supposed to do and you bought you're tickets in advance (the only possible way to do it), then you are one of the lucky ones.
This particular young, giddy fellow had not planned ahead. But, as luck would have it, he told us he was buddies with someone who works for Beth and Brent Eccles of Green Acres Farm. And as he fretted to his buddy about how he hadn't bought his ticket, his friend told him not to worry - Beth had already saved him a spot, knowing how much he wanted to go.
We, meanwhile, need to finish packing for our vacation to the shores of Michigan, so we'll miss tonight's event. That's right -- we didn't plan well this year, either.
So what is the point of all this, if you are one of the ticketless many? Simple: Mark it on your calendar for next year. (Oh, and if you're on Twitter, follow uber-publicist Ellen Malloy, who will attempt a "video twestival" from tonight's event.)
Opening day of the market (held in the museum's east parking lot) is Friday, after which it will be held on the third and first Fridays of each month through October.
The market is an extension of the museum's current exhibit, Smart Home: Green + Wired. Whether the museum keeps the market going after the exhibit's run depends on how things go this summer, a spokeswoman says.
Also good to know: This Friday and June 19 are free days at the museum. Culture and just-picked produce -- what more incentive do you need?
(And if you haven't checked out the museum's Web site in a while, as clearly we have not, you should. It'll bring out the inner 3rd-grade science geek in you. Like this little instructional photo gallery of how to cook food using the sun.)
After picking up some asparagus and shiitake mushrooms at the Daley Plaza farmers market earlier today, I couldn't resist a stop at the Bleeding Heart Bakery booth. It's an automatic reflex -- baked goods for sale, me like a bee to honey. Damn you, baked goods. Three bucks later, a s'mores brownie was mine. Lunch was still on the horizon. Still, I broke off a nugget right then and there.
"Eat it," one of the young women working the booth urged. "If you die, at least you know you had the best part."
Sun-Times Food editor Janet Rausa Fuller is always thinking about her next meal.
Lisa Donovan
For almost 20 years now, reporter Lisa Donovan has been hitting Chicago's neighborhood markets and restaurants not only for the
best grub at the best prices but also as a way to understand the city's melting
pot.
James Scalzitti
As Rhoda Morgenstern would say, food is the first thing Sun-Times Wire Service reporter James Scalzitti remembers liking that liked him back..
Sun-Times Food editor Janet Rausa Fuller is always thinking about her next meal.
For almost 20 years now, reporter Lisa Donovan has been hitting Chicago's neighborhood markets and restaurants not only for the
best grub at the best prices but also as a way to understand the city's melting
pot.
As Rhoda Morgenstern would say, food is the first thing Sun-Times Wire Service reporter James Scalzitti remembers liking that liked him back..
