The Green Chicago Restaurant Coalition (GCRC) is committed to providing professional procurement services to support members as they increase their use of local and sustainable products. In recent years, the Coalition has set up procurement systems to provide members with environmentally preferable products at a cost-competitive price.

This collaboration will help restaurants and foodservice companies source local/regional meat, produce, dairy, poultry, eggs, and specialty products. To simplify the process FamilyFarmed.org will help restaurants work with existing distributors or recommend new distributors depending on specific needs.

It’s an easy process. Here’s what you need to do:

1.     Contact James Pirovano at FamilyFarmed.org via email or at  708-763-9920.
2.     Let us know what your needs are, make sure to include the type of products you wish to purchase from local sources.
3.     FamilyFarmed.org will develop a set of recommendations for you based on types and quantities of products you desire, and taking into consideration your current set of relationships with distributors and other vendors.
4.     We will provide ongoing support to help you implement this program in the 2012 growing season.

This collaboration offers GCRC members the opportunity to connect with local growers to increase procurement of locally grown and sustainably raised food.

Are farmer interested in selling direct to restaurants? If you’d like to be included in our recommendations to restaurants, please let us know. We’re looking for diverse products, so please contact us about your interest and what products you offer!

The 8th annual Good Food Festival and Conference – Chicago was a huge success! With three days of fantastic programming culminating in the Saturday Festival, the Good Food Festival and Conference was the place to be!

Participants experienced the Good Food Movement firsthand and learned about opportunities to fund growing food businesses, how existing businesses can expand their local food offerings, and what policy issues effect our food systems. The Festival was full of DIY workshops about preserving the season’s bounty, growing and making Good Food, and leaders discussing challenges and next steps to expand local, sustainable food for all.

A special thank you to our sponsors, volunteers, staff, and supporters who made the event possible.

Click here for the three day program.

The Good Food Festival and Conference celebrates leaders, businesses, and individuals that sustain the burgeoning, locally-driven Good Food Movement. With a Festival celebrating the joys of food, to an industry-driven conference focused on local sourcing, the Good Food Festival and Conference has something for everyone.

Festival Highlights

© Chuck Berman, Chicago Tribune

By Emily Bryson York, Chicago Tribune reporter
February 12, 2012

When Big Bowl wanted to serve more locally grown fruits and vegetables, it turned to a small farmer last year and planted a big order: The chef selected and paid $15,000 for heirloom seeds.

In addition to the bounty of fresh bok choy, garlic and lettuce, Big Bowl reaped a discount for the summer. It was a healthy deal too for La Fox-based Heritage Prairie Farm.

Throughout the growing season, Big Bowl employees helped out on the farm, hoeing, weeding and transplanting crops.

“These farmers need enough buy-in to make it work,” said Danny McGowan, president of the Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises chain, which has eight restaurants and 12 express locations. “And lots of farms can’t get a small-biz loan to get started.”

Bronwyn Weaver, co-founder of Heritage Prairie, said growing interest from hotels and more casual-dining chains is proving to be a shot in the arm for many small farmers. “When they embrace local foods, it really can make a huge difference to the farming community; it really helps to make us viable.”

Such partnerships illustrate an increasingly common, symbiotic relationship between local farmers and chefs that has begun to migrate from the finest dining establishments to casual, everyday restaurants. Farmers get assurances that their crops or meats will have buyers, so long as they meet specifications, and chefs reap fresh ingredients, a voice in what gets planted and the ability to put the farm’s name on the menu, attaching themselves to one of the restaurant industry’s hottest trends.

“I want to make money, but I also believe we can take care of purveyors and neighborhoods,” McGowan said. “I’m going to work hard to find a fortune cookie, good gelato or farm where we can grow plenty of our stuff, or a chicken product I can feel good about, because I think you have to do both just to be a business.”

McGowan said about 30 to 40 percent of his customers seem to value local produce, up from about 10 to 15 percent five or six years ago. “We’re still on the low side, but I think every year it’s growing,” he said.

Jim Slama, president of FamilyFarmed.org, an organization working to help small farmers get their crops in restaurants and grocery stores, noted that after World War II, American agriculture morphed into a commodity business, concentrating on growing crops like corn for ethanol and animal feed, rather than tomatoes and cucumbers for gazpacho.

As a result, there’s a lot of room for growth in local. A study by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity showed that of the $14 billion Illinois spent on fruits and vegetables in 2009, only 6 percent of it was grown here. According to the agency, Illinois has the ability to grow 85 percent of that volume.

Although definitions vary, local produce is generally grown within 100 miles and regional products are generally from within 250 miles.

Fine-dining establishments have long embraced locally grown products, but chefs and farmers say more casual spots are joining in.

Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of research at the National Restaurant Association, said about 90 percent of fine-dining establishments in the U.S. offer some kind of local product. Participation dwindles by price point, although it’s increasing, Riehle said, noting local items on the menus of 63 percent of the nation’s casual-dining establishments, 56 percent of family restaurants, 45 percent of fast-casual chains, like Panera, and 28 percent of quick-service restaurants, like McDonald’s.

“You can’t overemphasize the value of being able to use local produce from a nutrition and health standpoint,” said Dan Rosenthal, who owns Sopraffina, Poag Mahone’s Ale House and Trattoria No. 10. “Commodity produce is built for shelf life, transportation, ruggedness, and all of that is at the expense of flavor and nutrition.”

Sometimes that costs more too.

Rosenthal is in the process of converting all the meat at his five Sopraffina cafes to hormone-free, sustainable products, most of them locally sourced, by midyear. He estimates that the difference in chicken costs alone will cost him $250,000 annually, as Sopraffina goes through 1 ton of boneless, skinless chicken breasts every week.

The chain is considering price increases to cover the higher-cost meat. But Rosenthal said the prices vary, and the increase is in flux.

Rosenthal already touts his accreditation by The Green Chicago Restaurant Coalition, a “Guaranteed Green” designation given to restaurants that meet certain standards for sustainable sourcing, cleaning products and efficient use of energy, water and waste. But he expects he’ll also start emphasizing the switch to sustainable meats.

Lou Malnati’s Chief Financial Officer Mark Agnew said his chain buys local produce whenever possible, as part of a companywide initiative to be more environmentally friendly.

Agnew said it’s tough to quantify what percentage of the company’s food is local, because it varies by season. Malnati’s has bought its cheese from the same Wisconsin purveyor for more than 40 years, and its sausage is locally made and sourced. The company has recently found increased availability of local tomatoes, green peppers and basil, and has since been buying more.

Because local costs more, Agnew adjusts each restaurant’s budget for summer months when more items are available, so store managers won’t miss cost targets for following company dictates to buy local.

Rick Bayless, who set up shop in Chicago a generation ago, recalls a time when there was essentially no local produce, only commodity farms. Bayless said he knew Chicago couldn’t be a great food city “unless it had great agriculture.”

He and a handful of uber-chefs like Sarah Stegner, Paul Kahan and John Bubala worked with former Tribune columnist Abby Mandell to establish the Green City Market in 1998. Its growing popularity has given way to more farmers markets across the city and more consumer interest in where food comes from. Today, he said, the situation has changed “180 degrees.”

Bayless said that during the summer his restaurants are serving 90 percent local ingredients, adding that he’ll never reach 100 percent because of the need for items like citrus, chocolate and avocado. In the dead of winter, he said, he’s at about 45 percent, the result of summertime freezing, drying and preserving.

But Bayless said he doesn’t incur higher food costs than his peers because he uses every part of everything he buys, and menus at all his restaurants are flexible.

Now he’s working on the farmers he buys from, to add capacity that will help stretch the local food supply. Mick Klug, a fruit farmer in St. Joseph, Mich., built a walk-in freezer two years ago, Bayless said. That facilitates many winter fruit crisps and an upcoming line of local-fruit smoothies at Tortas Frontera at O’Hare International Airport.

Klug said his eponymous farm has about doubled, to 150 acres, during the past decade, largely on the strength of restaurant business. Although he has done business with Bayless for 25 years, he said, interest from other chefs increased five to seven years ago, with business from more casual restaurants coming within the past four years.

For the groundswell in interest, Klug credits chefs for driving demand and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” campaign with driving consumer concern. For his part, Klug recently hired his daughter, Abby, to handle the farm’s increasingly important public relations and marketing.

Restaurants account for 40 percent of Klug’s business, up from 10 percent about seven years ago. Klug also has been looking for ways to extend the season, including the addition of apple varieties that last into December and the possible addition of tunnels that would protect raspberries from frost in October and November.

Peter Testa, president of Chicago-based Testa Produce, said the trend has been interesting to watch. His company has been buying local for 20 years and distributes to more than 1,000 restaurants in the region.

“All of a sudden, everybody woke up and said we can buy stuff next door,” he said.

Testa also noticed increased interest in local produce several years ago from large companies serving university cafeterias.

“College kids were asking about where their food came from, and when college students start asking questions, look out,” he said.

Copyright © 2012, Chicago Tribune

Click here to download a copy of “Building Successful Food Hubs: A Business Planning Guide for Aggregating and Processing Local Food in Illinois.”

SPRINGFIELD – On January 12, 2012 Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) Director Warren Ribley addressed the annual Illinois Specialty Growers Association conference in Springfield. At the conference, Dir. Ribley highlighted ways the state is working to increase markets for local foods.

“More people today want to know where their food comes from. Making food grown and produced in Illinois more accessible helps Illinois residents eat locally and helps boost our economy,” said Director Ribley. “The tools we’re introducing today are a step toward building an expanded, locally-produced food supply that benefits more people in Illinois.”

Food hubs are processing and distribution centers where independent, local farmers can market their products to larger entities like schools and government agencies, making locally-grown food more widely available.  The lack of a food hub network in Illinois has been a barrier to increasing markets for small farmers.

To help meet the demand, DCEO has partnered with the Illinois Department of Agriculture, FamilyFarmed.org and the University of Illinois’ Business Innovation Services to create the guidebook, “Building Successful Food Hubs: A Business Planning Guide for Aggregating and Processing Local Food in Illinois.”

The guide serves as a resource for communities, businesses, not-for-profits and others interested in establishing food hubs. The guide includes descriptions of key functions, best practices, and “how-to” strategies for establishing and operating food hubs that are based on successful food hubs operating in other regions, specifically adapted for application in Illinois’ food system.

“The demand for local supply in Illinois far exceeds supply, and food hubs are an excellent way to aggregate product and sell to wholesale buyers,” says Jim Slama, president of FamilyFarmed.org. “This guide is a resource for prospective food hub operators and we are pleased to make it available.”

DCEO has also invested in several early food hub projects around the state. Edible Economy in Bloomington-Normal has received funds for a strategic plan that will create a food hub to help provide local foods for students at Illinois State University; as has a food hub intended to be staffed by workers at the Tazewell County Resource Center in Pekin.

Director Ribley also announced a new website to help farmers navigate larger market channels which often have complex regulatory requirements. When farmers are ready to explore alternative market channels associated with retail, restaurants, institutions, wholesale, processing, and direct sales, they can find helpful information at http://isupply.illinois.edu/. The site connects producers of a wide range of food products directly to market requirements and resources, as well as entities that may already have an interest in purchasing their products.  Additionally, the site provides links to relevant regulatory requirements and other important resources associated with various products and market channels.

The guidebook, “Building Successful Food Hubs: A Business Planning Guide for Aggregating and Processing Local Food in Illinois,” is available for free for download by clicking here.

 Through DCEO, the state has been focusing investments on developing and expanding high-growth sectors like agriculture, including training Illinois workers in these 21^st century occupations, promotion of local foods, expanding local supply chains to alleviate food desserts and infrastructure investments to quicken the innovation in these sectors.

The On-Farm Food Safety Project was officially unveiled on December 15, 2011 at U.S. Department of Agriculture headquarters by Jim Slama, President of FamilyFarmed.org, high profile food and agriculture organizations, and Kathleen Merrigan, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture. This broad partnership of stakeholders will help release the new online tool, available free to farmers, and demonstrate its ability to mitigate farm-based food safety risks.

The tool is voluntary and enables produce growers to create customized food safety plans, and thus, adopt and document best practices in food safety. It is the first of its kind and was developed by the nonprofit FamilyFarmed.org with lead funding from the USDA Risk Management Agency. A broad coalition of farm and produce industry partners helped create the program, which is available at www.onfarmfoodsafety.org.

In an era of growing concern about food safety, farmers of all sizes have sought ways to build effective and manageable food safety programs in an economical manner. This tool will help produce growers improve their food safety protocols by helping them assess risks specific to their farms and suggesting risk-specific mitigations.

“USDA believes that a strong farm safety net-including effective, market-based risk solutions for producers of all variety and size-is crucial to sustain the vitality of American agriculture,” said Merrigan. “Effectively managing risk is important to all producers, and having an acceptable food safety program is in the best interest of consumers, buyers, and the farmers themselves. USDA is proud to have worked with private, public and nonprofit partners to introduce this free tool to farmers seeking to gain certification as a Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) producer.”

To generate a food safety plan using the tool, the farmer or user answers a series of questions that have been divided into the food safety risk areas. They include worker health and hygiene, agricultural water, previous land use, soil amendments and manure, animals and pest control, packinghouse activities, product transportation, agricultural chemicals, and field harvesting. In addition to helping farmers create a food safety plan, the tool offers farmers a full-set of record keeping templates to document their food safety efforts as well as useful food safety resources.

Once users have completed their farm’s food safety plan and compiled necessary documentation, they have the capacity to apply for GAP food safety certification, a process asked for by many large produce buyers. USDA’s GAP audit verification program, administered by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), focuses on best agricultural practices to verify that farms are producing fruits and vegetables in the safest manner possible to minimize risks of microbial food safety hazards.

“Wholesale buyers are increasingly requiring that farms adopt and quantify best practices in food safety,” says Jim Slama, President of FamilyFarmed.org. “We created this tool in order to give farmers access to a system that allows them to meet the needs of these buyers, while minimizing risk.”

Large buyers including Compass Group, Sysco, and Chipotle Mexican Grill supported the project financially and with technical assistance. The tool, two-and-a-half years in development, was initiated at Cooking for Solutions at the Monterey Bay Aquarium by a conversation between Jim Slama and Will Daniels, senior vice president of food safety for Earthbound Farm, America’s leading organic grower. “Foodborne pathogens don’t discriminate between small and large farms, but a one-size-fits-all approach to food safety isn’t effective,” said Daniels. “Programs have to be tailored to specific risks, which is what this tool does.”

Slama and Daniels saw the importance of providing an affordable, relevant means by which smaller growers could develop food safety programs and the initiative was launched. Daniels agreed to chair the Technical Advisory Committee and, together, they recruited many national leaders in food safety to oversee the development of the project.

Groups that participated in the development and review of the tool include: Chipotle Mexican Grill, Community Alliance with Family Farmers, Compass Group, Earthbound Farm, Farm Aid, FDA, NSF Agriculture, Produce Marketing Association, Sysco, The Organic Center, Western Growers, Wallace Center at Winrock International, Wild Farm Alliance, University of California at Davis, United Fresh Produce Association, and the USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture. Through a consensus process, technical advisors developed the online tool to meet the needs of small and large growers.

“We are pleased that the On-Farm Food Safety Project sought out and engaged a broad-based community to develop this tool,” says Dave Runsten, Director of Policy and Programs for the Community Alliance with Family Farmers. “It truly reflects the input of all levels of produce farmers and experts.”

The tool integrates with Harmonized GAP standards developed by United Fresh Produce Association, thus helping farmers meet the food safety compliance specifications of most wholesale buyers.

“A full spectrum of stakeholders came together to create this online tool and we are grateful for their input,” said Slama. “We invite farms of all sizes to use it and to give us feedback about their experience.”

The FamilyFarmed EXPO has become the Good Food Festival and Conference – Chicago.

After seven successful years as the Midwest’s Premier Good Food Event, the FamilyFarmed EXPO has gone national. We’re excited to announce that the FamilyFarmed EXPO is now the Good Food Festival and Conference. This change reflects FamilyFarmed.org’s national leadership in growing the Good Food Movement. Join us and experience the movement that is changing the way we eat.

The multi-day festival will focus on regional and national issues relevant to farmers and food businesses and will include a tradeshow, festival, and workshops for individuals and families interested in eating, preparing, and preserving local food.

For information on exhibiting and to apply, click here. Apply early and save, early bird discount available until December 12, 2011.

The order of 1.2 million pounds of chicken from Amish farmers will help raise awareness on the issues of antibiotic overuse in food animals. Whole Foods Market assisted CPS and CTH with their sourcing needs and helped identify Miller Poultry as the chicken provider for the 300,000 students fed daily at CPS. In addition, the project is supported by School Food FOCUS and the Healthy Schools Campaign. These organizations see this program as an important first step in efforts to reduce the overuse of antibiotics in food animals nationally and ensure the future effectiveness of antibiotics for human medicine.

More information can be found on the news release section of CTH’s website, here.

Sunday,  October 9 3:30pm to 6:30pm
Heritage Prairie Farm in Elburn, IL

BOKA Group chefs Stephanie Izard of Girl & the Goat and Giuseppe Tentori of BOKA Restaurant and Bar and GT Fish and Oyster will create a multi-course family style dinner showcasing amazing food from local farms. The meal will feature appetizers, main courses, vegetable side dishes, and delectable deserts served at the picturesque Heritage Prairie Farm in Elburn, Illinois. Once there, visitors can take a guided tour and see where some of Chicago’s top restaurants source their fresh produce and honey.

This remarkable day will give good food fans an opportunity to spend quality time with Stephanie Izard and Giuseppe Tentori, two of America’s leading chefs. In addition, Stephanie Izard will be signing copies of her new book, Girl in the Kitchen: How a Top Chef Cooks, Thinks, Shops, Eats, and Drinks

Leave the Driving to Us.

Mixologists will be serving farm to bar inspired craft cocktails aboard coach buses departing from the city. Sign up early to reserve your seat. The first 100 people are guaranteed a spot on the buses.

Logistics.

Buses depart Chicago at 2pm. Returns are scheduled to arrive at 8pm. For those driving to the farm on their own, the supper begins at 3:30pm at Heritage Prairie Farm and ends at 6:30pm.

Support FamilyFarmed.org

Proceeds of the Harvest Supper benefit the work of FamilyFarmed.org, one of the country’s leading non-profit organizations working to support family farmers and local food. Your contribution will help FamilyFarmed.org expand programs to help restaurants, schools, hospitals, universities and other large scale buyers purchase fresh local fruits and vegetables.

Buy your tickets early! This event has limited capacity and sold out last year!

$125.00 per ticket, includes transportation to and from Heritage Prairie Farm for the first 100 people who sign up. Others can drive straight to the farm, where there is plenty of parking.

$35 cost for Stephanie Izards’s book, Girl in the Kitchen: How a Top Chef Cooks, Thinks, Shops, Eats, and Drinks.

Watch, Vote and Win — One voter will receive free food for a year from sponsors!

Join FamilyFarmed.org and SnagFilms for the  “Good Food Film Countdown” to help determine the Best Food Films of all time.  Film and food fans who vote for their top documentary and fictional food film will be to win free food and products for a year from signature sponsors, including, Chipotle, Applegate, Stoneyfield, Organic Valley, Nature’s Path Organic and Earth Friendly Products.

There are over 200 of options to vote for.  The films Big Night, Like Water for Chocolate, Babette’s Feast, Chicken Soup, or even Attack of the Killer Tomatoes are just a few! And, many of the incredible Good Food documentaries that have not been widely viewed will be available to watch and voted upon.

The first round of voting runs until October 31, after which the film list will be narrowed to five non-fiction and five fiction films.  From November 1 through November 28, voters will then vote for one of the top five ranked films in each category to determine their favorite food flick.

“FamilyFarmed.org aims to bring healthy food to local communities across America while benefitting farmers, consumers and businesses,” said Familyfarmed.org Founder and President, Jim Slama.  “We are excited to work with SnagFilms on the sweepstakes, to encourage families to celebrate food by watching and voting for their favorite foods films and to have the chance to win healthy foods.”

“We eat by necessity – but what we eat is a choice. FamilyFarmed.org and the films in this showcase help us choose more flavor, better health and a sustainable planet.  It’s filmanthropy for your family dinner table, and we’re delighted to enlist the SnagFilms community to watch, share and eat smart,” said Rick Allen, SnagFilms CEO.

Additional sponsors for the Good Food Film Countdown include Whole Foods Market, Beanfields, Bon Appetit, Nutiva and FrogTV.  A selection of food films are currently available for free streaming online via SnagFilms.com.