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

Micheal Pollan was recently a featured gust on on point with Tom Ashbrook, discussing his latest work –  Food Rules.

Pollan says that inspiration for his latest work came from a doctor-actually, a couple of them. ”They had read my last book, ‘In Defense of Food’, which ended with a handful of tips for eating well: simple ways to navigate the treacherous landscape of modern food and the often-confusing science of nutrition. “What I would love is a pamphlet I could hand to my patients with some rules for eating wisely,” they would say. “I don’t have time for the big nutrition lecture and, anyway, they really don’t need to know what an antioxidant is in order to eat wisely.” Pollan listened.

Listen to the complete interview On Point with Tom Ashbrook: Michael Pollen on food rules for a better life. Pollan’s previous works include “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto”, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”. “Second Nature” and “A Place of My Own” and is a regular contributer to the New York Times Magazine.

Who: Terra Brockman, Author
What: Book Signing
When: Saturday, December 19th 2009
Where: Community Winter Market at Inglenook Pantry, 11 N 5th St Geneva IL 60134

Terra Brockman was raised in central Illinois, where four generations of her family have farmed. Terra’s younger brother, Henry, grows 650 varieties of vegetables on about 12 acres (between Peoria and Bloomington). There, he and his family with apprentices have bucked the traditional agribusiness conventional wisdom by farming in a way that’s sensible, sustainable and focused on producing healthy, nutritious food that doesn’t damage the land.

Terra Brockman tells the story of her family and their life on the farm in the form of a year-long memoir that takes the reader through each season of life on the farm.

For more information about Terra Brockman or her book, please visit her website at www.terrabrockman.com

Community Winter Market at Inglenook Pantry
11 N 5th St
Geneva IL 60134
630-377-0373
http://www.genevagreenmarket.org/directions

What: Slow Food Harvest Potluck &  Fresh, The Movie

When: Sunday, November 15th; 4:00 -- 6:30pm

Where: Country Garden Cuisine 3n369 Lafox Rd, Campton Hills, IL 60175-7636  

Celebrate the foods of fall and join Slow Food City’s Edge for a harvest potluck supper and screening of the movie FRESH!

Please bring your favorite slow food inspired entree or side dish to share with your friends and neighbors. Fresh, the movie celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system.

Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision of our food and our planets future. Fresh addresses an ethos that has been sweeping the nation and is a call to action America has been waiting for.

We invite you to learn more about Slow Food City’s Edge, share good food with your neighbors, and understand the importance of eating healthier, locally grown food and how you can participate in this movement.

***In the spirit of Slow Food, please bring your own flatware, plates and cups.
More info at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/88203

Cost: $7.50 -- Covers  refreshments and dessert (to be provided by Inglenook Pantry).

What: Food Inc. (www.foodincmovie.com)

When: Monday, November 16, 7:00pm – 9:30pm

Who/Where: Judge Family Chiropractic 2422 W. Main St. -- Suite 4A St. Charles, IL 60175 (map)

Judge Family Chiropractic will be hosting a screening of Food, Inc. at their office on Monday, November 16th. The movie starts at 7:00 p.m., but come in at 6:30 p.m. to visit the various vendors before the movie starts. For more information call their office at (630) 707-9314 or email Angie Marchand at angie4maximizedliving [at] yahoo [dot] com.

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Who: Terra Brockman, Author

What: Booksigning of “The Season on Henry’s Farm” by Terra Brockman

When: Sun, November 15, 1pm – 3pm

Where: Fox Valley Winery, 5600 U.S. Rte 34 in Oswego, IL

Terra Brockman was raised in central Illinois, where four generations of her family have farmed. Terra’s younger brother, Henry, grows 650 varieties of vegetables on about 12 acres between Peoria and Bloomington. There, he and his family and apprentices have bucked the traditional agribusiness conventional wisdom by farming in a way that’s sensible, sustainable and focused on producing healthy, nutritious food that doesn’t damage the land.

Terra Brockman tells the story of her family and their life on the farm in the form of a year-long memoir that takes the reader through each season of life on the farm.

For more information about Terra Brockman or her book, please visit her website at www.terrabrockman.com

On Saturday, September 19, 2009, the Geneva Green Market will hosting a free outdoor presentation of the documentary “Fresh” for the Fox River Valley: Elgin, South Elgin, St Charles, Geneva, Batavia and Aurora, IL at RiverPark in Geneva. The GGM invites the public to come at 7:00 p.m. to get settled in with blankets. Desserts will be available for purchase by the Inglenook Pantry. Proceeds from the dessert sales will go to the Geneva Green Market, NFP.

The event is part of our on-going commitment to food education, it’s free and open the public – this film focus’ on the importance of eating healthier, locally grown food. Those in attendance will learn about the importance of local food and how they can incorporate this into their daily lives and participate locally in their communities – from backyard gardening, family farms to farmers markets. It will be a lively and fun evening for all!

• Who:      Geneva Green Market
• What:     Fresh, a documentary film
• When:    September 19, 2009, seating starts 6:30, screening at 7:30 p.m.
• Where:   RiverPark, 75 North River Lane, Geneva IL, 60134
• Cost:      Free

August 20, Mid-Summer’s Night Dream

Follow your food as it travels from field to kitchen to table. This season, we offer monthly farm suppers straight from the Heritage Prairie Farm Kitchen. Each supper features a unique menu, reflecting what is local, seasonal, and delicious. Arrive early to tour the farm and greenhouses, listen to live music and enjoy appetizers and local beer and wine. Sit with friends at a convivial dinner table while the sun sets over the fields.

When: August 20; September 24; October 22

Where: Heritage Prairie Farm
2N308 Brundige Road, Elburn, IL 60119

Time: 6:00 PM reception and farm tour, followed by dinner

BYOB: Bring your favorite beverage to enjoy or choose from a selection of local beers and wines available for purchase by the glass.

Price: $65 per ticket or $58.50 per ticket for members.

VeggieFest is back for 2009 after a huge turnout last year. Activities include workshops, live music, delicious food and family fun! Many restaurants are there this year and many guest speakers on various health and food related topics.

Who: VeggieFest 2009
What: Food focused family festival
Where: Science of Spirituality, 4 S 175 Naperville Rd, Naperville IL 60563
When: August 8 – 9, Saturday 11am – 8pm, Sunday 11am – 7pm
Cost: Free Admission

VeggieFest 2009
630.955.1200
800.222.2207
www.veggiefestchicagoland.org

Food, Inc. is a 2008 American documentary film directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Robert Kenner. The film examines large-scale agricultural food production in the United States, concluding that the meat and vegetables produced by this type of economic enterprise leads to inexpensive but environmentally harmful and unhealthy food.

From the Food Inc website:

In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation’s food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government’s regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation’s food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, herbicide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won’t go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli—the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.

Featuring interviews with such experts as Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto) along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield’s Gary Hirshberg and Polyface Farms’ Joel Salatin, Food, Inc. reveals surprising—and often shocking truths—about what we eat, how it’s produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here.

Food, Inc. will be playing at:

Landmark Century Cinemas
2828 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60657
(773) 509-4949
Thursday, July 30th (2:00), (4:30), 7:15, 9:45

Glen Art Theatre
540 Crescent Blvd.
Glen Ellyn, IL 60137
Showtimes will be available at starting July 31st. Food, Inc. is scheduled to be running from Friday, July 31st – August 6th.

According to The Boston Globe, people spend on average 13 percent of their income on food. In order to compensate for rising gas prices, people are aggressively looking for ways they can save money. Cutting back on the amount they spend on food is usually at the top of the list, especially since food prices have been increasing dramatically. Organic food can be costly, and it seems easy to justify buying cheap, factory-farm produced meat and produce. However, the truth is we cannot afford to continue buying from factory-farms long term.

Among the many hidden costs of food, subsidies rank the highest in terms of actual dollar amounts. The government offers big business farmers subsidies to keep food costs below the cost of food production so America can stay competitive on the international market. When we buy cheap food we have already paid for part of the food in taxes, or else that food came from a country with unfair labor practices. If we revert back to eating locally we would not need to pay taxes for farming subsidies. For more information on this visit www.truecostoffood.org.

Farm subsidies are an international problem. The government just pasted a bill that will spend over $180 billion dollars over the next ten years, which will be given to big business farms. Much of this food will be shipped overseas, which will drive down food costs and put small farmers out of business. So not only are we buying sub-par food for ourselves with taxes, we are buying sub-par food for other people with the subsidies. And this is not charitable giving, because it is highly destructive to the local economy in other countries and provides people with less nutritious food. Supporting local, organic farms is the best for everyone’s economy long term. For more information on this visit www.commondreams.org or Google “farm subsidies.”