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

Hillside Orchards is a small family farm that started in 1836. We have been selling at the South Bend, Indiana Farmers’ Market since it started over 75 years ago. We have sold in Chicago locations since 1991. We specialize in apples, peaches, nectarines, sweet cherries, apricots and chestnuts for high quality and exceptional taste. We use consultants to identify a problem and only spray if the threshold is passed. We were the first to use a sprayer that uses a laser to measure the tree and spray the tree and not the empty space. We use pruning and other practices to produce high quality, good-tasting fruit. We hate spaying as it costs time and money.

We use insect pheromone, insect growth regulators and organic materials first. We use other materials second and only the ones that are safe for people, wildlife and the environment Read More…

The Chicago Tribune featured a cover story with Chef Jeremy Lycan, of Niche Restaurant and vendor Heritage Prairie entitled “Support Your Local Farmer - Movement to eat food grown within 100 miles of home is gaining traction” in the July 6, 2008 issue:

Growing concern about such “food miles” has inspired many consumers to become locavores.

Betsy Zinser, 44, of Batavia began her pursuit of locally grown food two years ago after finding that a bag of broccoli in her freezer was produced in China.

Deri Gray, 47, a dedicated locavore in Geneva, said the ability to trace her food to its origin has given her peace of mind, particularly while health officials have been focused on tomatoes as they probe a nationwide salmonella outbreak.

“I knew right away the tomatoes I got here wouldn’t be tainted,” Gray said outside the Heritage Prairie Market in Elburn. “It hasn’t been touched commercially, so there’s nobody in between contaminating it with any disease.”

Many locavores cite a different reason for their dietary decision: Locally grown food is fresher, more nutritious and tastes better. That may explain why many chefs in the Chicago area’s trendiest restaurants feature locally grown ingredients.

“We’re finally getting back to craving the flavor and textures of produce that’s extremely fresh,” said Jeremy Lycan, chef at Niche Restaurant in Geneva.

Lycan gets his rib-eye from Dietzler Farms, a 750-acre farm in Walworth County, Wis., about 65 miles from his restaurant. And he gets garlic and beets from Heritage Prairie Market.