The University of Illinois Extension-Winnebago County is currently taking reservations for the 5^th dinner in the Openfields Local Foods Dinner Series. The previous four dinners were wonderful successes and created an opportunity for chefs and farmers to work together to bring the best local fare to those lucky diners in attendance. The series started on Father's Day with a dinner at the Celtic Thistle in Rockton. Early season produce was featured at that dinner, as well as an entree of elk steak.

July featured two dinners; the first was an on-farm dinner at Pine Row Farm in Rockton, catered by A Movable Feast. In spite of an unseasonable cool evening, diners enjoyed a farm tour, a live jazz band, and of course, appetizers and a four course meal-all sourced locally. Downtown Rockford's Octane hosted a dinner in July as well, which featured a trio of "sliders" featuring local bison, beef and cheese, as well as some of my favorite cheese from Torkleson's Cheese in Lena.

On Thursday, August 20, Toni's of Winnebago will be serving a local dinner at and to benefit Severson Dells Nature Center. The host will be Michelle Princer, Toni's of Winnebago owner and chef. To learn more about her restaurant, visit http://www.tonisofwinnebago.com/. Michelle is well known for her talent as a chef and for her use of local and organic food in both her restaurant and catered events.

The evening begins at 6 p.m. with hors d'oeuvres, and at 6:30 p.m. a bountiful buffet of local food with vegetarian options will be served. The menu is topped off with dessert paired with local cheese. Water, coffee and tea are complimentary; soda, beer and wine are available at a cash bar.

Cost is $55 per person, a portion of which will benefit the efforts of the Severson Dells Nature Center. Reservations can be made by calling the University of Illinois Extension-Winnebago County at 815-986-4357 or online at http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/winnebago/.

Openfields

We are excited to announce the opening of farm site registration for the 2009 OPENFIELDS Farm Tour

that is scheduled for Sunday, May 24 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Registration is open to all farms in North Central Illinois, and we hope that you will join us in promoting family

farms in Northern Illinois. If you know of a farm that would like to participate but is not currently registered

with the Local Foods Directory, please forward this email to them. If you would like to register in the Local

Foods Directory please follow link at https://webs.extension.uiuc.edu/registration/?RegistrationID=1767

Due to the immense interest locally and nationally about small farms and local food, it is an opportune moment

to begin such a tour.

OPENFIELDS will also be used as a kickoff to the Local Flavors Dinners that will be taking place this summer

and fall at a variety of restaurants.

The cost for participation is $25.00. After completion of your registration below, you will receive an information

packet and promotional materials. This event will also be promoted in regional newspapers, radio and television,

Rockford Chamber of Commerce announcements, the Northern Illinois Tourism Board, Rockford Area

Convention and Visitors Bureau, and various University of Illinois Extension websites.

We are looking forward to hearing your ideas and will be here to answer all of your questions and concerns as

you ready your farms and fields. To register your farm for the Tour go here https://

webs.extension.uiuc.edu/registration/?RegistrationID=2949

Feel free to contact Andy Hazzard, Local Foods Systems Coordinator, U of I Extension-Winnebago County, at

(815) 986-4357 or ahazzard@illinois.edu should you have questions or need additional information.

Chefs, Farmers Explore Partnerships

By Constance McCarthy, member of the U of I Extension Winnebago County Local Foods Working Group

The University of Illinois Extension in Winnebago County and the Local Foods Working Group had sensed an interest among area farmers and producers in selling their vegetables, fruit, and meat to area restaurants, as well as an interest among locally-owned restaurants in serving more local foods. And so it was on Monday, March 30, 2009 that close to 30 producers, chefs. restaurant owners, and local food advocates gathered at Octane Interlounge in Rockford to learn about this process and lay the foundation for future collaborations.

Andy Hazzard, the Winnebago County Local Food Systems Coordinator and farmer-in-chief at Hazzard Free Farm, welcomed the diverse group that included representatives from nearly all of the area's top restaurants, many organic and sustainable farms, and Angelic Organics Learning Center. The panel of speakers included David Cleverdon, owner of Kinninnick Farm and purveyor of vegetables to many of Chicago's top restaurants; Tom Eickman, of Eickman's Processing Co. in Seward and president of the Illinois Association of Meat Processors; and Kiki Benson, owner of Kiki B's restaurant in Rockford.

David Cleverdon: Kinninnick Farm

David Cleverdon recounted that when he first considered marketing his produce to restaurants, he was selling at Chicago's biggest farmers markets. Chef Rick Bayless, of Frontera Grill in Chicago, told him that he'd face difficulties because he didn't have an understanding of how the restaurant business worked. In hopes of helping other farmers and producers who would like to begin selling to restaurants, David shared some of the insights he's gleaned in the 15 years since he started Kinninnick Farm. First, although farmers should consider the style of the chef they're dealing with, as a general rule chefs will pay good prices for good quality food. And if a farmer can provide good product, a restaurant can quickly absorb a significant quantity. When there is elasticity in the demand from restaurants, selling at farmers markets can help to balance things out.

Second, consistency, flavor, quantity, and timeliness are crucial for a farmer in building a solid relationship with a restaurant. David. He sends out an order sheet each week to restaurants that lists what is fresh and in season at that moment, provided that he has sufficient quantity. Farmers improve their chances of success if they can develop an easy order flow, making it as uncomplicated as possible for the chef. Wasting the time of a busy chef does not bode well.

Another cornerstone is communication. The farmer or producer needs to own up to mistakes immediately, so that the chef can have a better chance of finding a replacement product. This can be a make-or-break aspect of the relationship.

Finally, David recommends that farmers focus on growing in-depth and growing those products well. Because he is fanatical about post-harvest handling, he has received much positive feedback from "his" chefs. He also encourages these chefs to be good critics and to feel free to offer their comments and suggestions to him. The best partnership brings together a chef that is as passionate about cooking as the farmer is about growing a superior products.

Tom Eickman: Eickman's Processing Co.

Tom Eickman is a third-generation meat processor at his family's federally-licensed company, which has been in business since 1953. Custom processing is their niche, and they typically act as a sort of middleman between the producer and consumers, be they individuals or restaurants. They also have smoking and canning facilities and a retail shop that aims to sell as much local product as possible. Eickman's is keen on supporting local producers and frequently hears that restaurant customers are interested in eating locally-raised food.

One thing for chefs and restaurants to bear in mind is that buying from a local producer is different than buying off of an industrial food supply truck. Only so many steaks can come from one cow; for example a 1,200 pound cow in the field could weigh 700 pounds on the rail, and 430 pounds after it is butchered. Of that 430 pounds, only 25 pounds or so will be rib eye steaks. T-bone steaks and tenderloins are also only a very small part of one cow. And although some chefs don't prefer to use frozen meat, sometimes that is the only way to get a larger quantity of certain cuts from a local source.

Another difference between buying fresh, local meat and product off a truck is the appearance, texture, and taste of the meat. For example, commercial meats such as ham often have a much higher water content compared to a locally raised and produced version.

When buying meat from a local source, the chef or restaurant can get to know the producer personally, as well as what kind of agricultural practices the producer employs. For example, is the animal given growth hormones or antibiotics? Is the animal raised in a pasture, grazing on grass? What kind of feed has the animal been given? What kind of conditions does the animal live in?

Eickman's is more than happy to work with chefs and invites them to come see their facilities, and even learn meat carving techniques. Producers are also welcome, and Eickman's is always seeking out new partnerships that help support our local economy. Because they are a smaller business, they can custom cut or process meat to a chef's exact specifications, such as unique sausage blends and 1.5-inch thick pork chops. Restaurants can distinguish themselves from the competition by offering unique dishes with superior taste.

Kiki Benson: Kiki B's Restaurant

In October 2008, Kiki B's hosted the first-ever Local Foods event in conjunction with the Winnebago County Extension. Kiki Benson, the owner, described that night as exciting, romantic, and idyllic, among other things. She and her family connected with the food in a special way, picking apples for the galettes at Curran's Orchard and hulling walnuts.

She found the experience to be very educational from the perspective of a restaurant owner. For example, it is not as easy as simply asking one local farmer to provide you with 40 pounds of pork tenderloin, as one pig contains only 3 pounds or so of that cut of meat.

Just as with any other new undertaking, Kiki has found that starting small is a good approach. She aims to have one local dish offered each week, although in the first winter that became much more difficult. However, she are eager to start up again this spring with more local offerings on their menu.

Kiki has noticed a positive change in the community's knowledge about, and appreciation for, local and organic foods. David Cleverdon has also noticed this, recounting that when he first started selling organic produce at the Edgebrook Farmers Market in 1994, he actually took his "organic" signage down because customers would see it and walk on by. Even the White House has started a new organic vegetable garden.

Questions and Answers of Farmers and Chefs

Someone asked about the possibilities of growing vegetables for the catering business. David Cleverdon sees more limited opportunities here, as things grown in the field ripen at their own pace, and it is difficult to plan many months in advance to have a fixed quantity of a certain vegetable on an exact date. Restaurants, however, have more flexibility in determining their menus from week to week, even day to day, and thus have an easier time of working fresh, local produce into their offerings.

Several chefs observed that farmers markets are often early in the morning, which does not mesh well with the schedule of a typical (very busy) chef. He wondered about the possibility of some kind of system where chefs could place orders earlier in the week (especially through an interactive interface online, such as a listserv or password-protected site), as many of them are simply too busy to comb through several farmers markets on a regular basis. Another possibility is to have a collaboration among growers, where one will grow, for example, beets while another will grown lettuce.

Yet another proposal was to have farmers fax lists of their available produce (variety and quantity) for that week to one central person (e.g., someone at Extension), and that person would send one email or fax to each chef. This would take pressure off of each farmer having to contact each chef individually, and would keep the chefs from being inundated with a slew of communications. Chefs could then contact the growers directly.

A farmer provided a different perspective, noting that he feels it is more secure for the farmer to know what the market is going to be (with regard to varieties, quantity, and frequency or level of need) before committing to grow the vegetables. Other farmers also think it would be helpful, just for information purposes, to know how many pounds of potatoes or cases of lettuce are used in a week by varying sizes of restaurants. They would also like to know what varieties of vegetables are of greatest interest to chefs, so that the farmers can better plan what to grow. Chefs and restaurant representatives seemed agreeable to the collection of this information on an anonymous basis.

Another option for collaboration is for a chef to offer to buy whatever quantity is left over after a farmer is done selling at a farmers market. On his way home, an area farmer will stop by a restaurant where the chef will buy all the remaining tomatoes, for example. Recognizing the superior taste and wanting to support a local farmer, this chef uses the farmer's produce first, with vegetables off a truck being used as a back-up.

From a marketing perspective, one restaurant owner liked the idea of using local foods to give the servers a story to tell. There is not much romantic or enticing about food from a truck, but people's eyes light up when they think about the connection between their food and the land that surrounds this community. Even farms that are not certified organic may have be certified naturally grown, or may simply be growing things organically but not having obtained that certification. Local farmers really do care about the quality of what they are offering for sale, having put their own hard work into it. This kind of relationship is missing from industrially-grown food. Just the same, one way that local restaurants set themselves apart from their chain competition by offering a connection to the community in their collaborations with local farmers and producers.

Other suggested promotional opportunities include Taste-of the Farm events; on-farm dinners; weekly ads in the GO section of the Rockford Register Star (saying which restaurants are offering specials featuring local foods that weekend); open farm days; offering a "rack card" or other info sheet at restaurants on the basics of local foods and why they are important; and a bike-the-barns event (similar to a pub crawl, but visiting various farms that are close to each other). All in attendance agreed that public awareness of local foods needs to continue to be increased. Although things have been changing for the better in the Rockford area, there is still a ways to go.

Planning Your Vegetable Production Program, February 23

The University of Illinois Extension—Winnebago County will be hosting a distance learning workshop on how to prepare for vegetable production during 2009 and beyond. The workshop will be conducted via MeetingPlace distance learning technology at U of I Extension-Winnebago County, 1925 S. Meridian Rd, Rockford. The workshop will be held on Monday, February 23 from 9:00 am – noon.

Bill Shoemaker, University of Illinois Extension Specialist in Vegetable Crops and Kari Houle, University of Illinois Extension-Knox County Horticulture Educator will be conducting the workshop. There will be a fee of $5. This very informative workshop will help participants prepare for the growing season.

Topics covered include growing seasons & growth characteristics, row spacing production estimates successive planting and intercropping & rotating crops for optimal production.

Register by calling 815-986-4357 or online at http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/winnebago/. Registration is required by Feb. 22. $5 cost will cover the telenet, materials and handouts. Please call ahead to register and for directions.

Not that I have time to really go into details tonight, but I have been meaning to set up blog that can be used to talk about the activites of the University of Illinois Extension-Winnebago County and our Local Foods Workgroup. I have been working with a group of really enthused and dedicated volunteers since fall. We meet regularly to discuss programming opportunities, partnering possibilities, and how we can work together to strenghten the local food system in our area.

As time goes on, posts from other members of the workgroup will be added, and we will also use this blog to announce upcoming events and programs and links to other organizations offerings as well. So Welcome-Eat Well!