Wesley, Eve, Eleanor, Amanda, Benton, Caelin, Darian, Finn, Julia, Elli, Olivia AND MANY MORE KIDS came to the market to play with their food before eating! D65 teachers assisted in their whimsical and outlandish creations. We’re sure this same creativity and energy will be in evidence in Evanston classrooms this next Monday.
Farms and chefs contributing their wares and skills to the 4th Annual Harvest Celebration were revealed by Friends of Evanston Farmers Markets and event host Now We’re Cookin’. Here’s the list, which is, of course, subject to change
Bistro Bourdeaux – Chef Aaron Brockwell
Boltwood – Chef Brian Huston
Chef’s Station – Chef Jose Romero
Farmhouse – Chef Eric Mansavage
Feast & Imbibe – Chef D’Andre Carter
Found – Chef Nicole Pederson
Hewn – Chef Ellen King
Hoosier Mama – Chef Paula Haney
Hummingbird/Campagnola/Union – Chef Vince DiBattista
Quince – Chef Andy Motto
The Stained Glass – Chef Victor Hernandez
Tomate Fresh Kitchen – Chef Tania Merlos-Ruiz
Wine Sponsor: Louis Glunz Wines
Beer Sponsor: Temperance Brewery
Green Sponsor: Whole Foods Church St.
1st Orchard
Gast Farm
Geneva Lakes
Green Acres
Hazzard Free Farm
Heartland Meats
Henry’s Farm
Kinnikinnick Farms
Lake Breeze Organics
M&D Farms
Nichols Farm
Nofke Farm
NEW THIS YEAR: A raffle of gourmet gift baskets, assembled from market vendor donations. The proceeds will help Friends in our mission to spread information about fresh food and home cooking, as well as providing better access to market products for citizens who need a little help. You’ll also get to sample our vendors’ favorite fall produce.
Our friend, Chef Ellen King of @Hewn, was featured on CBS Wednesday morning. Check out the coverage.
You’ll be able to see her in the flesh at this year’s Harvest Celebration!
Make sure to pick up your tickets soon. Just click right here.
The foundation of the Downtown Evanston Farmers Market is the fresh and delicious produce, meat and poultry of our farmers and ranchers.
It’s the same for the Annual Harvest Celebration. It’s our fourth event, and this year a dozen of Evanston’s finest chefs will partner with some of the market’s favorite vendors, each team to produce one wonderful dish.
You’ll meander from table to table, enjoying incredible food, and wander outside to sample the fare of Hummingbird, Evanston’s gourmet food truck, all while sipping some wonderful wine, or a glass of beer if you prefer.
What’s it like?
“It was like having the tasting menu in one of Chicago’s finest restaurants,
but instead of $300 it was only $70! We’ll be back next year.”
John R, 2013 attendee
The event takes place at Now We’re Cookin’ in Evanston, a fabulous venue with a demonstration kitchen plus a professional kitchen which serves as an incubator for start-up food businesses.
NEW THIS YEAR: A raffle of gourmet gift baskets, assembled from market vendor donations. The proceeds will help Friends in our mission to spread information about fresh food and home cooking, as well as providing better access to market products for citizens who need a little help. You’ll also get to sample our vendors’ favorite fall produce.
Evanston market shoppers have come to expect the beautiful and healthy bounty of food for sale each Saturday at the market, but we wonder if they (and we!) know the full story behind the piles of carrots, Oxheart cabbage, heirloom tomatoes etc. What we read in a Mother Jones article by Tom Philpott (Sept 9, 2013) explains the behind-the-scene struggles of our stalwart heroes.
We learned that it takes between 700 and 1500 years to generate an inch of topsoil. Cornell agricultural scientist David Pimentel warns that “90 percent of US cropland now is losing soil faster than its sustainable replacement rate”. But this story isn’t a sky-is-falling tale. Quite the contrary as we visit Ohio farmer, David Brandt, who is practicing the old and new techniques to change these dire soil conditions.
And we strongly suspect that many of his state-of-the-art farming practices are also used by Evanston market farmers. (Sounds like a future story!) We hold this hope even though this article tells us that only 1% of US farmers employ these practices.
For sure, now as we shop at the Evanston Farmers Market for the best food possible, we have a better understanding and appreciation for the important work of our superhero farmers! And we can’t wait to talk with our farmers about their own practices!
Read this whole fascinating profile on the Mother Jones website. Just click here.
And let us know in the comments section if you’d like to find out more about what our “own” farmers’ do to create the best conditions possible for growing the produce we depend on every week.
