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

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.

Come shop for your Thanksgiving dinner ingredients, pick up pre-ordered grass fed turkeys from Caveny Farms and crafts that make great Christmas gifts. There will be locally grown, organic food and craft vendors.

Enjoy a locavore brunch before or after you shop!

Sunday, November 23, 2008
Hosted by Inglenook Pantry
11 N 5th Street
Geneva, IL 60134

Thanksgiving Market: 9:00 a.m. thru 3:00 p.m. Localvore Brunch served 9:30 am to 2:00 pm.

Note: We are also still looking for craft vendors. If you would like to participate in this market contact Karen at (630) 208-9321.

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.

The Geneva Green Market, the area’s only Farmers Market requiring all produce and products be locally grown within a 200-mile radius of Geneva IL, is kicking off their second season on Thursday, June 26 at their permanent location along the west side of the Fox River at 75 N. River Lane in Geneva from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Join us for opening ceremonial plantings at 9:00 a.m. with Geneva officials and friends, followed by cooking demonstrations and more…

Visitors will see familiar faces from last year and some new vendors as well. Products include field-fresh, minimally processed, sustainably grown, produce ranging from vegetables, herbs and fruits to meats and dairy products and more!

OPENING DAY SCHEDULE

• 7:00 a.m. Market Opens
  9:00 a.m. Local City Officials and Dignitaries to Participate in Planting Ceremony of the Geneva Green Market
  9:30 a.m. James Beard Award Nominee, Chef Jeremy Lycan’s Cooking Demonstration with Locally Grown Food
  10:30 a.m. Kid’s Corner – Illinois Natural History Survey Mobile Classroom
  11:30 a.m. Chef Jeremy Lycan’s Cooking Demonstration with Locally Grown Food

SPECIAL ACTIVITIES:

• 9:00 a.m. The Illinois Natural History Survey Mobile Classroom & Traveling Science Center
  9:00 – 11:00 p.m. Guided Tours of River Park
  12:00 p.m. The Illinois Natural History Survey Mobile Classroom & Traveling Science Center

Parking is plentiful, and the weekly Geneva Green Market is located one block east of Route 31 and one block north of Route 38. For more information, please contact Karen Stark – email us here!

• Locally-grown food does not cause as much pollution (global warming) due to less travel time.
• Keeping family farms alive keeps rural landscape alive, supporting less urban sprawl.
• Spending your money where you live keeps your community thriving.
• As a tourist looking for local flavor, this makes your visit more authentic. If you come to the Fox Valley area, you’ll want to taste what we grow.
• Geneva is particularly blessed with a booming community of small farms and food producers. Try our seasonal produce.
• Think of the health and safety of you and your family. Small, local farms are less likely to use hormones and more likely to raise grass fed or free-range animals, and organically grown vegetables.
• If you know your farmer, you know where to ask questions; the shorter the route from the farm to your table (at home or in a restaurant), the more knowledge you have at hand, and the more flavor you have on your plate.