The Good Food Festival is this weekend!

FamilyFarmed invites you to a family-friendly day of inspiring speakers, DIY workshops on the Organic Valley Good Food Commons, chef demos from Rick Bayless and Paul Kahan, a special ham curing session to celebrate Easter with Rob Levitt of the Butcher & Larder, plus the interactive Purple Asparagus Kids’ Corner.

Urban Farm Bus Tour.

 They’ll also offer the super popular Urban Farm Bus Tour which visits four cutting-edge urban farms and sells out every year. (True to form, it's already sold out.)

This year there will be over 150 exhibitors at the Good Food Marketplace, where you can shop, meet CSA farmers, learn about local foods and enjoy a great meal! Click here to see the list of exhibitors.

Here's a video produced by FamilyFarmed all about the festival and how important it is in terms of building community.


 I went last year and had such a great time talking food and local growing with all of the vendors.  There's everybody from Locally Laid Eggs to artisanal whiskey makers.  (Last year, I thought that Locally Laid Eggs won for best name of a company.  Wonder who will win this year?)

If you are growing your own food, the Peterson Garden Project Seed Swap in the Good Food Concourse allows you to pick up seeds, swap yours and get a few gardening tips.

There's also a Good Food Court, where some of Chicago's best (and most homegrown) eateries serve up their delicious wares.

To get the full schedule, visit this page, which includes the following:
• a series of lecture/demos about how to keep bees, quails, goats, ducks, and other farm animals in the city.
• cooking demos with chefs like Rick Bayless
•discussions about important topics like food as medicine, transforming school food, and the true cost of good meet.
• demos on home activities like making sauerkraut, preserving herbs,  and composting.

There's a whole other part of the conference, happening on Thursday and Friday, aimed at farmers, producers, legislators, and investors.  You can find out more about that on the website as well.

The whole event is sponsored by FamilyFarmed, a non-profit organization "committed to expanding the production, marketing and distribution of locally grown and responsibly produced food, in order to enhance the social, economic, and environmental health of our communities." (from their mission statement)

If this sounds like fun, purchase your tickets online.

You can also download/view the full conference directory here:
GOOD FOOD FESTIVAL