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About Us
Programs
Local Food Systems Leadership
FamilyFarmed.org has a history of providing leadership in the local food systems arena through participation in councils, speaking engagements, conferences, meetings, and through consulting. FamilyFarmed.org is represented on the Illinois Food Farms and Jobs Council and on the Chicago Food Policy Advisory Council.
Market Development
Developing direct and wholesale markets is key to building local food systems. FamilyFarmed.org works to build demand and supply and helps to create infrastructure that supports the growth of the system. We do this through developing networks and relationships; the “Find Local Food” and “Chicagoland CSA” sections of the FamilyFarmed.org website; the FamilyFarmed EXPO and Meet the Buyer events; and, through information and referral to link buyers and sellers. FamilyFarmed.org works with many leading buyers of local food including Sysco, Compass Group, Goodness Greeness, Chipotle, Whole Foods Market, Chartwells Thompson Hospitality (Chicago Public Schools), Irv & Shelley’s Fresh Picks and Natural Direct to connect them with local food sources.
FamilyFarmed.org also provides technical assistance for farmers. We publish Wholesale Success: A Farmer’s Guide to Selling, Postharvest Handling and Packing Produce. The 255-page manual includes comprehensive sections on issues such as Building Relationships with Buyers, On-Farm Food Safety, and Calculating Return in Investment. It also includes over 100 crop profiles that give specific harvesting, cooling, storage, and packing information on most of the fruits and vegetables grown in the United States. It is the basis for our Wholesale Success training workshops.
Food Access
Through partnerships, FamilyFarmed.org is developing systems to enhance fresh local food availability and access throughout Chicago, especially in disinvested communities. FamilyFarmed.org is working on pilot projects where federal food program benefits can be accepted at farmers markets. We are also working to double the value of such benefits when used at farmers markets. Finally, we are assessing and will pilot other innovative programs that increase access to fresh local foods in communities without full-service supermarkets.
Food Safety
Food safety is key for all farmers of all sizes and demonstrating that farmers are taking this issue seriously will help to safeguard the growing local foods movement. As such, FamilyFarmed.org is leading the development of a nationally significant on-farm food safety program whereby small to mid-scale fruit and vegetable farmers will have access to a no-charge, easy to use tool that helps them create a personalized on farm food safety plan. FamilyFarmed.org will then present workshops to farmers to train them how to use the tool to create a food safety plan, as well as on the importance of incorporating food safety best practices into their regular operations. FamilyFarmed.org is also working with both the USDA and the WI Department of Agriculture on food safety projects.
 FamilyFarmed EXPO
FamilyFarmed.org produces the annual FamilyFarmed EXPO, a trade show, conference, and celebration of local and responsibly produced food. The EXPO has been attended by over 9,000 during its four-year history. The purpose of the event is to link some of the Midwest’s best local farmers and family-owned producers of food and farm products with the public, trade buyers and leaders in the field to foster relationships that facilitate the growth of local food systems. Past speakers at the event have included local and national leaders such as: Mayor Richard Daley, Congressman Bobby Rush, researcher Mari Gallagher, Organic Valley CEO George Siemon, journalist and rancher Bill Kurtis, urban farmer Will Allen, Senator Carol Moseley Braun, Farm Aid Director Carolyn Mugar, farmer Fred Kirschenmann, and Chefs Rick Bayless and Gale Gand.
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