Geneva Green Market: Geneva, Illinois – A Local Food Green Farmers Market

Hasselmann Family Farm has a long family history of farming in Illinois. Spend a minute with fourth generation family farmer, Scott Hasselmann and you’ll hear amazing stories about the family-farming lineage. His grandparents and great-grandparents were vegetable farmers and his father and grandfather were mushroom farmers.

Having a full-time, fully operational farm has always been Scott’s dream. Life always led him in this direction, as he cared for animals beginning at a young age and studied agronomy in college. Scott was a Peace Corp Ag Volunteer in Nicaragua where he worked with small farmers.

Five years ago, Scott was working part-time as a hobby on his grandfather’s farm while working another full-time job. During this time he committed to developing the Hasselmann Family Farm into a full-time venture and two years ago he turned from hobbyist to full-time farmer.

Hasselmann’s Farm is 100% a family farm, with both Scott’s wife and father totally instrumental in the growth and operation of the farm. They have just moved to an 80-acre farm in Marengo, McHenry County.

Hasselmann Family Farm is a small, diversified farm and you can see their sustainability practices in every element of their farming.

• They apply the pastoral approach to farming, similar to the way our ancestors farmed. Illinois was originally a prairie and wasn’t made for monoculture farming, to grow single crops over a wide area year after year or raise one species of livestock, which leads to pathogen susceptibility.
• Everything is moved to fresh grass daily or every other day, so it is a dead-end for pathogens.
• They raise a multitude of livestock and crops that live out on the land: cows, pigs, lamb and chickens rather than a single species.
• They rotate their crops, including hay and oats.
• Their hogs are raised from birth to slaughter.
• They use local processors for all their meat.
• Their chickens, lamb and beef, all hormone feed-grass fed. Pork and chicken is slightly supplemented with grain.

Hasselmann Family Farms is able to control the quality of our products with these sustainability practices. The end result is products that are highly flavorful, rich and nutritious! Hasselmann products are Animal Welfare Approved.

Hasselmann Family Farm’s are known for their amazing hormone and antibiotic free products that are raised outside. including:

• Farm Fresh Chicken and All Natural Eggs – From hens raised outdoors on pasture.
• Pork – known for its richness, moisture, tenderness and depth of flavor
• *Grass Finished Lamb – Our lambs are also pasture raised and they subsist on a diet of fresh grass and hay.

Farm Fresh Beef – We raise our cattle on pasture in the fresh air and sunshine. They eat fresh grass and are fed supplemental hay and grain as well. They are naturally raised meaning they receive no drugs or growth hormones.

We warmly welcome Hasselmann Family Farm to the Geneva Green Market family. Scott joined us this winter at the GGM,nfp sponsored Community Winter Market and is now with us at the Thursday market. In additon to Scott’s meat and eggs you may also get Illinois Stone Ground Flour and assorted flour mixes from him.

Can’t make it on Thursdays. You may also pick up Hasselmann Farm raised product at Inglenook Pantry (11 N. 5th St., Geneva, IL)

In it’s fourth season the Geneva Green Market, NFP partners with Delnor Community Hospital and Fit 4 Kane at the market to strenghten the focus on children and food. Highlighting food education, flavor flavors and learning ‘just where does all out food come from?”. Article was was highlighted in the My Surburban Life section of the Geneva Republican in an article by Frank Vaisvilas on Saturday, June 26, 2010:
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Geneva, IL -Organizers of the Geneva Green Market, no in its fourth season, long have been touting the benefits of organic eating, but a recent Harvard study now shows why the pesticide-free food could be especially important for children.

Published in the medical journal Pediatrics’ May issue, the study linked exposure to organphoshates, which are found in pesticides, with the prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children ages 8-15.

“Organic, naturally grown fruits and vegetables here are one more reason why it’s good,” Green Market organizer Connie Weaver said.

“We already eat so much natural and organic food, (the study) wasn’t a huge concern for us,” Kacsh said, adding it could be worrying for families who do most of their shopping at grocery stores.

Regardless of the study, vendors have been seeing a growing demand for organic food during the past few years. Sarah Thelen, who sells apples, peaches and other fruits at the Green Market on behalf of Hillside Orchards, said they use integrated pest management for their crop. Instead of pesticides, the system uses natural products such as mushroom, garlic and insect pheromones to deter pests.

“That’s the public demand for (organic food),” Thelen said. “People are paying attention more to what they’re eating. People are concerned with what their children are eating.”

New this year to the market is a Delnor Hospital booth designed to promote health and nutrition in children.

“We are trying to decrease childhood obesity by increasing health and wellness,” Delnor Education Specialist Shannon McCall said.

She said exercise combined with good nutrition helps reduce disease and organic, locally grown foods are better for health overall.

“Obviously, the fresher the produce, the better it’s going to be,” McCall said.

Brannon Anderson of Geneva said she buys organic food for her family, and especially likes shopping at the Green Market to support local farmers.

“It’s nice to buy everything local,” Anderson said. “You can do almost all your grocery shopping here.”

She said she aims to reduce her carbon footprint and teach her family how to appreciate produce that’s in season, rather than food that’s imported to be sold year-round at grocery stores.

Beth Propst, who represents Erehwon Farm at the Green Market, said early rains this year have led to early harvests of some crops, such as tomatoes, which already are beginning to ripen 10 to 14 days early and should be available by mid-July. She said organic fruits and vegetables also are more nutritious than “normal” produce because pesticides rob the soil of nutrients.

“A hundred years ago,” Propst said, “this was normal.”
If you go
WHAT: Geneva Green Market
WHERE: 75 N. River Lane
WHEN: 7am – 1 pm Thursdays through Oct. 28

AT one time specialty fruits/vegetables were defined as vegetables and/or herbs that were not traditionally grown in the U.S. but were imported to the U.S. or were grown in the US, although on a limited scale. Specialty vegetables were also referred to as exotic, unusual, world vegetables, and/or high-value crops.

On the United States Department of Agriculture’s website the definition of Specialty Crops is stated as follows:

The Specialty Crop Competitiveness Act of 2004 and the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 have defined specialty crops as “fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, and nursery crops (including floriculture).” Eligible plants must be intensively cultivated and used by people for food, medicinal purposes, and/or aesthetic gratification to be considered specialty crops.

Specialty vegetables are sometimes called the “eccentric ones”. What may be common to some couldn’t be more foreign  to someone else. They can, and often are, oddly colored, shaped or shaped (at times all three). Others you can’t tell apart till the first sample. Specialty crops can be often difficult to grow, can be  grown out of season, or are “foreign” to where they are grown. They may be miniatures or heirlooms or vegetables prized by epicurean cooks. Despite all their differences what they all can have in common, besides being somehow unusual, is that they often command a higher price than their ordinary counterparts. Specialty vegetables are in greatly increasing in demand. Read more

To check out what Matt is cooking at Moveable Feast for your Thanksgiving Dinner.