Macomb Food Initiatives Group

UPDATE: The community information meeting about a local foods co-op in Macomb has been postponed.

This meeting was originally scheduled for 7 pm Wednesday, January 27rd, in the 1st floor Community Room of Macomb’s City Hall to inform the public about initial planning efforts to open a natural food store featuring locally grown and raised food.  The co-op steering committee will reschedule this meeting for a later date.

Filed under:
Food Coop by Dan Barclay

The Food Initiatives Group (FIG) will host a free winter supper from 4:00-6:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 23^rd at the First Presbyterian Church in Macomb.  The family-friendly event will feature a variety of soups and chili, accompanied by fresh wheat rolls or cornbread, and an apple crisp dessert.  The entire community is welcome to attend the supper at no charge.  Dinner will be provided on a first come, first serve basis, and the group expects to serve 200 people.

The church is located at 400 E. Carroll St. (entrance to the building is on Dudley St.). “We chose the location of the First Presbyterian Church because it is also the home of the Loaves & Fishes Food Bank,” said FIG treasurer Jamie Lane. “This event is a great opportunity to bring attention to the affordability of simple home-cooked meals during a period of tight economic times.”

FIG is a grassroots group which is working to involve the community in supporting a fair, sustainable, and local  food system in the Macomb area.  FIG members hope the dinner will help illustrate the ability to support local growers even in the winter. In anticipation of the event, several items for the dinner were purchased at the Macomb Farmers’ Market in October and were placed in cold storage or frozen.  The chili features tomatoes and onions from the Farmers’ Market and beef from West Prairie Farm.  The butternut squash soup uses squash from Barefoot Gardens.  Both West Prairie Farm and Barefoot Gardens are located in Macomb.  The chicken in the chicken noodle soup is from Hickory Grove Farm of Colchester, and the vegetable soup includes potatoes and green beans purchased at the Macomb Farmers’ Market.  Wheat from WIU’s Allison Organic Farm is the main ingredient in the bread, and apples from M&M&m farm of LaHarpe are featured in the desserts.

Attendees will have the opportunity to take home copies of the soup recipes and estimated budgets for making each soup at family scale.  “We are excited to offer a supper in the winter with food grown by local producers and with recipes that anyone can make at home for a reasonable price,” said Holly Stovall, FIG supper committee member.

The wholesome feast is sponsored by FIG, in collaboration with members of the Service and Justice Committee of the First Presbyterian Church, Macomb.  WIU students from FIG member Heather McIlvaine-Newsad’s “Applied Anthropological Methods” class will serve the guests as part of their community service project.

In addition, guests will be able to learn about a variety of food related topics including upcoming community gardening projects under the direction of the Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Administration; Sociology & Anthropology; and the School of Agriculture in collaboration with the Western Illinois Regional Council, FIG, and various community groups. For more information about the dinner, FIG, or about FIG membership, visit www.macombfig.org/blog/ or contact Jamie at 309-833-3748.



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Events, Local Foods Dinners by Dan Barclay

One of the topics that has been under-represented in this blog is eating… or “cooking” or “recipes”.  One of the places that I go for some good ideas is the Kitchen Window series on the National Public Radio website.  I can read the articles or listen to them if I have the time or inclination to do so.  The latest entry on the Kitchen Window website includes some great ideas for using whole grains in a variety of tasty-sounding recipes.  The bulgur-mushroom pilaf with grilled butternut squash kebob sounds great and will also help me use up the butternut squash that was so plentiful this past fall.

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Cooking by Dan Barclay

I have more than one list of New Year’s resolutions for 2010.  Here are a few that I have for eating well, enjoying our family outdoor space, and contributing to our community.

1. Learn to utilize all of the new freezer space we added last year by preserving more local and homemade food during the next growing season.  I will also throw in the hope that I can learn more about drying fruits, vegetables, and herbs and, a big leap here, actually can something like peaches from Illinois’ Calhoun County.  I loved the canned peaches and pears that my grandmother would give us when I was growing up.

2. Fertilize, compost, and otherwise improve the soil in the three gardens that our family started last year.  Our big compost bins have been collecting our household leftovers and yard waste for over a year now and spring will be the time to take more advantage of all that good compost.  Last year our gardens benefited from lots of help from friends.  Thank you to Bob for the seeds and rototiller, Michael for another round of rototiller work, John for the tomato cages, Bradley and Erin for the strawberry plants, and Ann and Anna for some of the other plants that succeeded in growing vegetables.  The garden has been a great way to connect with friends and neighbors.

3.  It is all about the SYSTEM here.  I hope that as a community we can work to establish a more assessable venue, maybe a food co-op, to purchase and sell local food.  At least one community garden is within our reach as well.  Macomb’s local food system is growing!

I recommend the New Year’s resolution list at Craig Goodwin’s Year of Plenty blog. Year of Plenty is a local food and gardening blog based in the Spokane, Washington, region.  Craig Goodwin describes himself as a Master Food Preserver and Minister at Millwood Presbyterian Church.

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Gardening by Dan Barclay

One of the best ways to combat the epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States is with nutrition and gardening programs that are integrated into schools.  One such program is giving children in Washington, D.C. a chance to taste garden-grown winter spinach (cool weather spinach is sweeter!) in an after-school program that includes a trip to the White House garden as well as kitchen lessons provided by a chef and other interested volunteers. With more and more McDonough County families struggling to put food on the table and with convenient junk food so readily accessible it only makes sense for schools in our area to incorporate more gardening and nutrition information into the curriculum.

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Gardening, School Food by Dan Barclay

According to a new study published by the Leopold Center at Iowa State University the cost of locally produced food available at farmer’s markets and natural foods stores is statistically the same as non-local food available in supermarkets.  In fact, the local food was slightly less expensive than the non-local food.  The study was conducted at the peak production season for Iowa summer vegetables.  This is a strong incentive for local producers to invest in affordable greenhouse technologies such as high tunnels or hoop houses that can extend their growing season and allow them to market their produce at the best price consumers will find.  Check out this image from the White House lawn to see Michelle Obama’s hoop house that is extending the growing season of the White House organic garden right through the winter!

Ok, these low tunnels in the White House garden are more precisely referred to as row covers since they are only about 2-3 feet tall and hoop houses are usually structures that a person can walk in.  But they function the same way and are much easier to set up or remove as the circumstances warrant.

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Economic Development, Farmers' market by Dan Barclay

Four members of the Local Foods Co-op steering committee from Macomb made a field trip to St. Louis on Friday, Decemeber 11, to gather information about running a small natural foods grocery and learn about the local food scene in St. Louis.  Clare Kernek, Jamie Lane, John Curtis, and Dan Barclay made stops at Soulard Farmer’s Market, Local Harvest Grocery, and Local Harvest Cafe and Catering.

Local Harvest Grocery in St. Louis.

The trip to St. Louis was very informative and talking to the management of Local Harvest Grocery gave the steering committee a lot to think about and provided good ideas to share at a community meeting being planned for late January.  More photos are included in the rest of this post… (more…)

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Food Coop by Dan Barclay

I recently had the pleasure of hearing FIG member, Macomb resident, and resident labyrinth expert Kelly Quinn speak about labyrinths and the way human societies have used labyrinths for thousands of years.  Many outdoor labyrinths are accompanied by beautiful landscaping but I was especially captivated by this image from a Spokane, Washington, backyard vegetable garden.

The backyard garden of Craig Goodwin (used with permission)

Gardens and farm fields grow plants and help fulfill our dietary needs but they also appeal to and stimulate our senses.  They lift our spirits in different ways.  What shape is your garden and how does it inspire you? (more…)

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Gardening by Dan Barclay

An article in The Radish magazine gives readers some suggestions for finding local food in winter and directs Macomb readers to Kenne and Debbie Dallefeld’s farm between 9 am and 1 pm on Saturday, December 19th.    Another article of interest to Macomb readers in the December issue of The Radish is entitled, “Helping the helpers,” and discusses ways to give to 10 charities in need this season, including Macomb’s Loaves and Fishes food pantry.  The Radish is most focused on the Quad Cities area but occasionally covers events in the immediate Macomb vicinity.  It is a great source of information about healthy living in Western Illinois and Eastern Iowa.

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Events, Local Food by Dan Barclay

If you are looking for a place to buy quality natural foods at wholesale prices then check out the Macomb Munchers.  This organization is a natural foods buying club right here in Macomb that receives orders once a month at a central location in town where members pick up their orders.  The online buying experience is state-of-the art, extremely easy, and you pay in-person by cash or check when you pick up your groceries.  You can contact the Macomb Munchers to join the club, learn more, or set up an account.  The company that is the source of the products available through the Munchers is United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI). You will need a username and password from the Munchers in order to make a purchase as a part of the club and to receive the club discount.

Filed under:
Local Food by Dan Barclay