Farm Forum – Chef Panel talking with Farmers, Geneva IL


Chefs Cleetus Friedman, Patrick Sheerin, Jr, and Jeremy Lycan have a couple of common denominators:  they are chefs, they are successful at their craft and they use local food in their restaurants. They are coming together to share their wisdom with local farmers about the local food movement in providing the freshest, most nutritional food to the guests that dine at their establishments.

The three Chefs are participating as a panel in the Farm Forum sponsored by the Geneva Green Market, NFP. The panel is to share with the audience (farmers and chefs) successes and challenges of using locally grown specially crops in their menus. The GGM, NFP is bringing farmers and chefs together to discuss how it is effective to utilize locally grown specially crops, meats and dairy. This is a free event to farmers and local chefs and restaurateur owners.

After meet and greet we will be excusing the chefs and speaking directly with the farmers who would like to having a booth at any farmers market.  Laurell Sims of Growing Power Chicago will present what make a successful stand at a farmers market.

What: Farm Forum sponsor by the Geneva Green Market, NFP
When: Tuesday, March 23, 2010 starting at 8:30 am
Where: First Congregational Church of Geneva, 321 Hamilton Street Geneva, IL 60134-2148
Who: Open to all chefs/farmers/restaurant owners in Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Kane, Will, McHenry, Kendall, and Lake Counties

Forum Layout:
-
8:30 am to 9 am meet and greet/ coffee-muffins served
-9 am to 10 am chefs panel
-10 am to 10:30 meet & greet exchange of info between farmer & chef (fast-dating style)
-10:30 am to 11:30 am Growing Power
-12:00 questions and wrap-up

The Geneva Green Market, NFP group is devoted to education of the health-giving nature of locally grown food, local sustainability, and conservation of resources.

Refreshments served, please call/email to RSVP to reserve.

Call 630.208.9321 or email GGM. NFP

Bio of Chefs

Cleetus Friedman,
Owner/Chef, City Provisions Catering & Events
As a lifelong chef, entertainer and event planner who is revolutionizing the green eating scene in Chicago.  In the short time since City Provisions & Events opened its doors in February of 2007, it has outgrown its original digs, launched an amazing Supper Club/Farm Dinner series (where patrons board a biodiesel bus and eat a five- course meal at a farm that supplies City Provisions’ food, meet the farmers and learn about food from the ground up—all part of Friedman’s educational mission) and clinched the coveted Sustain Illinois 2009 Award. By using local farms and supporting local businesses, Cleetus Friedman  believes deeply in his mission—service excellence, education, wholesome, local food and business practices that give back to the Earth and the community

Patrick Sheerin, Jr.
Executive Chef, The Signature Room
Working in the kitchens of several of Chicago’s finest restaurants during his 14-year professional career, Patrick Sheerin joined The Signature Room at the 95th® in 2002. Chef Patrick was promoted to Executive Chef in December 2006 and he has been creating innovative dishes ever since. Patrick combines his Illinois upbringing, utilizing fresh local farm ingredients, with his traditional culinary training to create dishes that are both savory to the trained palate and still approachable to the everyday diner.

Jeremy Lycan
Owner/Chef, Niche Restaurant
Chef Jeremy Lycan following the closing of the acclaimed restaurant 302 West in April of 2006 founded Niche Restaurant, Geneva IL.  A deep passion and strong belief in the values of his mentor Joel Findlay (Chef/owner) are carried into the dining experience at Niche. Serving only the freshest produce, seafood, meats and cheeses; encompassing the best of the season has to offer, and a constantly evolving menu allows for creativity and flexibility.

Chicago Tribune: Roadside Americana and the farm stand


The Chicago Tribune August 6, 2008 Good Eating section featured an article entitled Roadside Americana: The farm stand has a place in our hearts- and we’re happy to report, on MapQuest too by Emily Nunn:

And with the help of readers, who sent us their favorites by e-mail and post (see list), we headed straight to two contrasting but charming examples of what “farm stand” (and even “family farm”) can mean today.

Now, we have hope for an America that cares more about farming to feed its people than farming to feed its cars.At the suggestion of Mary Ann Schwarzbach of Geneva, we drove 35 miles from the heart of Chicago past the modern menagerie of big brand-name stores, through affluent lanes of Lincolnshire to a different land altogether, to Prairie View, where we paid a surprise visit to Mary Sue Didier and her son, John, at Didier Farms.

They are part of a family that has hung on through two World Wars, the Great Depression, the land squeeze of suburban sprawl and the precipitous rise of global agribusiness giants like Cargill (whose profits from commodity trading for the first quarter of 2008 were 86 percent higher than the same period in 2007). Which is something special, because since the 1940s, the number of farms has dropped to 2 million from 6 million Read more