U is for Uncommon Ground

Uncommon Ground (locations in Lakeview and Edgewater) is the creation of Helen and Mike Cameron.

I met Helen at the Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT) roll-out party for their Healthy and Humane Farms Funds grant project, and found that Helen is just about as passionate about local foods and sustainable farming as we are at CVSF.

Uncommon Ground now hosts a monthly meat CSA  drop off at each location. In May, CVSF will provide meat for a Slow Food dinner that will raise money to send delegates to Terra Madre this fall - hopefully Beth and I will be two of thos delegates.

As you can see our community continues to grow!

Chicago Honey Co-op

Again this departs from the A-Z format (wait no it doesn't - it's my "C"), but I want to wrap up  the Terra Madre thing. (Also, Michael Thompson is part of our farm's community - which I'll be posting about today as well.)

Terra Madre - Short essay #4

Please describe 1-2 experiences, if any, that highlight your relationship to the Slow Food or Terra Madre networks. If you have not previously interacted with Slow Food or Terra Madre, please tell us how you or your organization might build a relationship with these networks.

Michael Thompson is a founder of the Chicago HoneyCo-op.  He vends honey and beeswax products at the same market our farm does. I’ve gotten to know him well over the past seven years – from the market as well as running into each other at various local food and farming functions through the Chicago region.  Michael has been a leader in local foods, biological diversity, “slow food,” and urban agriculture for decades.

In 2008, Michael and his partner, Sydney, attended Terra Madre as delegates.  When I asked him about his trip, he told me: “Jody, I generally don’t put a lot of stock in the phrase ‘a life changing experience,’ but I have to tell you; it (Terra Madre) changed my life.” Ever since that conversation, I’ve wanted to be a Terra Madre delegate.

Terra Madre - essay 3

This probably doesn't fit in the A-Z blog challenge; but I just submitted the delegate application, I thought would go ahead and share:

Why do you want to go to Terra Madre/Salone del Gusto?

Globally, the food we eat, how it is grown, processed, distributed, and who grows and controls it has changed radically in the last fifty years. These changes adversely affect our lands, our waters, and our people.   Awareness of our broken food system is growing. People are fearful and sometimes overwhelmed by the enormity of problems; but there is hope and there are solutions.

To bring these solutions to the fore, the Slow Food, Good Food, Local Food, Responsible Food, Just Food, movement et al. needs leaders. Since I started farming, I’ve grown into leader/advocate for local and sustainable foods, but I can get much better. Traveling to northern Italy this fall, tasting traditional foods from all over the world, and engaging in the stories of growers from all over the world will expand my contacts, give me new knowledge, and inspire me to continue to change the world.