The Chicago Tribune may need to start a farm section considering all the ink it’s given to farming and farmers markets this year. I especially love the emphasis on sustainable/organic farming. But my favorite part is that the Trib continues to build on its earlier prediction that farmers will be the next rock stars. Indeed, the Trib even recycled the headline from that earlier story this week in Good Eating with a new story “Fame on the Farm.”
This week’s Good Eating piece, however, highlights three new exciting Rock Star farmers:
- Farmgirl (from Northwest Indiana’s Region no less) Beth Sakaguchi Eccles, who grows ethnic veggies (among her 683 vegetable varieties) on her Green Acres farm in North Judson, Ind.
- Wisconsin Mushroom Farmer Eric Rose. [I love his booth at the Daley Center markets and often purchase River Valley Ranch’s Shrooms Kitchen brand salsas and dip mixes…especially the spinach artichoke dip, which I served to guests last weekend. Yum. They thought so too.]
- And one I hadn’t heard about…Farmgirl Sydney Barton, who is part of the Chicago Honey Co-Op, which maintains more than 100 chemical-free beehives in the city. I didn’t even know such a group existed, even though I’m a big fan of Chicago Roof Top Honey.
I’ll have to check out the honey co-op next time I head to the farmers market downtown or in Oak Park. While I’m at it, I’ll stock up on more Shrooms treats.
Don’t miss the video pieces on each of these farmers and their organic operations at the Trib’s site. There’s no permalink, so watch the “related video” while you can.
Virtual Farmgirl 
I overheard you talking about this blog today, so I thought I’d stop. Seeing your interest in organic food, I thought I’d plug this restaurant that a friend of a friend and her husband just opened in Oak Park — Trattoria 225 (http://www.trattoria225.com/), which “strongly believe[s] in supporting local producers and using organic products whenever possible.” I haven’t eaten there yet, but I like Liz Charlton (and her lasagna), and our mutual friend has already been there several times and likes it.
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I overheard you talking about this blog today, so I thought I’d stop. Seeing your interest in organic food, I thought I’d plug this restaurant that a friend of a friend and her husband just opened in Oak Park — Trattoria 225 (http://www.trattoria225.com/), which “strongly believe[s] in supporting local producers and using organic products whenever possible.” I haven’t eaten there yet, but I like Liz Charlton (and her lasagna), and our mutual friend has already been there several times and likes it.
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