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

What:
A Festival of Information & Ideas for Sustainable Living, Building a Sustainable Community

When:
Saturday, October 4, 2008
9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Where:
Unitarian Universalist Church of Elgin (three miles west of Randall on Highland Ave)
39W830 Highland Avenue
Elgin, IL 60124

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The fifth annual Prairie Fest held is a one day celebration of sustainable living. Workshops, presentations, exhibits, and interactions are free to the community.  This Prairie Fest Community Conference promises to give attendees valuable and practical information on living a low impact sustainable lifestyle.  It features professionals, practitioners, authors, and civic official who give attendees the opportunity to explore the many practical ways that we can live more sustainably.  Green City is the central theme of this year’s Prairie Fest. The name points to the larger challenges of creating a “Green City” in which we all live and thrive sustainably.

Fest with positive steps to take and resources to help them learn to live
more sustainably. There can be no sustainable community without all of us learning to live sustainably.
Thom Thomas, Presenter - 9 to 11

Moderated by Elgin City Council Member Dave Kaptain, panelists include:
Elgin Mayor Ed Schock, City Planner Tom Armstrong, Green Architect Keelan Kaiser, Read More…

The New York Times featured an article on the trend of local food and community supported agriculture, or CSA, entitled “Shoppers buy slices of farms” by Susan Saulny in the July 10, 2008 edition. Highlighted in the piece was Geneva Green Market vendor Erehwon Farms:

“The CSA provides a base that’s certain, and we get the money when we need to spend the money,” said Beth Propst, who farms the fields at Erehwon, using the abbreviation for community-supported agriculture. “Having the money upfront and guaranteed, that gets us through at least the beginning of the season.”

Tim Fuller, Propst’s longtime companion and business partner in running the farm, said: “People are coming to us. We do very little marketing except for explaining what we do. It’s amazing.”

With a wry smile, Fuller said he considers himself both personal farmer and personal trainer, because shareholders under his direction are going to break a sweat.

“There’s always pressure on,” he said. “This is a complicated business, growing so many crops. We do everything by hand for more than 100 different crops.”

“I think people are becoming more local-minded…” said Nichole Nazelrod, program coordinator at the Fulton Center for Sustainable Living at Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, a national clearinghouse for community-supported farms. “People are seeing ways to come together and work together to make this successful.”

Cattleana Ranch in Omro, Wisconsin, Thomas and Susan Wrchota offer grass fed meat and organic produce through a community-supported arrangement.

“We don’t do millions in revenue, but we make a living, which is rare,” he said. “Our goal is to provide a full portfolio of products for folks who want sustainable products. Up until about five years ago, we had to do a tremendous amount of guerrilla marketing. The consumer who is interested now, they’re doing their homework. They know the health and taste benefits.”

Some shareholders said they found the arrangement a bargain compared to grocery shopping… Most agreed that the urge to buy and spend locally to avoid the costs and environmental degradation that come with shipping and storage was behind the decision to join. Shareholders can pick up their goods at the farm or at a store across the street.

“From a ‘going green’ standpoint, it’s an appropriate thing to do,” said Gerard Brill, a musician who bought a share of Erehwon. “Like everything organic, it’s not a bargain, but what price do you put on being healthy? Considering all things, it’s actually a very good deal.”