SWAN CREEK HEIRLOOM FARM, LLC

The Southbound Metra train out of Fox Lake was 18 minutes late and thus I missed the 12:30 connecting train back to Barrington. No Problem -- the Lord of Hosts has trained me as well as the best circus dog you've ever seen - LORD, I get it! There are people I now must meet.

Went to the Rock 'N Roll MacDonalds, thinking maybe Marla would be there, or Jill, and I could invite them out to my folks, feed 'em a hot meal, let 'em shower, do some laundry, and then put 'em back on the last train to the city. No dice.

Hotter than a cat on a Hot Tin Roof, too. I was melting.

Got involved in the most engaging conversation with George Rasmussen (there are several Rasmussen's that attend the crappy church my folks go to), the German-Danish Organic Farmer who owns about 30 organic farms across the country. HERE -- is what he and his vision are all about:

Farmers You Should Know

Good food comes from somewhere and someone. Behind food with superlative taste, there is always a place and a face.

Slow Food Chicago strives to forge stronger ties between our region’s farmers and the consumers of their products. When speaking about the food consumer, Slow Food founder Carlo Petrini has coined the term “co-producer”, to stress the importance of an eater’s partnership and bond with the farmer.

Wendell Berry, the Kentucky farmer and poet, famously said, “Eating is an agricultural act,” to which Slow Food responds, “Agriculture is a gastronomic act.” We all benefit when we strive to shorten the links in the chain from pasture to plate, and by realizing that satisfaction at the table is inextricably linked to conscientious custody of the field.

On these pages, we would like to introduce some farmers you should know. Read and learn, and then go meet these terrific producers at farmers markets in our area. Reestablish the connection we should all have to the sources of fresh, local, seasonal, healthy, delicious food.

Green Acres (vegetables)
Caveny Farm (turkeys, geese)
Prairie Fruits Farm (goat and sheep cheese)
Triple S Farm (pork, beef, chicken, eggs)
Mint Creek Farm (lamb, chicken, eggs, seasonal turkey)
Kinnikinnick Farm (vegetables)
Heritage Prairie (4-season vegetables, honey)
Chicago Honey Co-op (local honey)
Fairstream Farms (vegetables)
Growing Power (vegetables)
Organic Pastures (pork, chicken, lamb, beef, sausage)
Wettstein Organic Farm (pork, chicken, lamb, beef, sausage)
Seedling Fruit (Fruits, Jams)
Heartland Meats (Piedmontese Beef)
Plapp Family Organics (beef
Henry’s Farm (vegetables)
Nate Wieland Farm (dried beans)
Tempel Farms (vegetables, poultry, eggs, flowers)
Twin Oak Meats (pork, chicken, sausage)
TJ’s Meats
Spence Farm (Ramps, Maple Syrup, Heirloom Corn)
Slagel Family Farm (goat)
Arnold Family Farm (beef, pork, chicken, lamb)
Chicago Honey Co-op
Harvest Moon Organics (vegetables, meat, cheese, eggs, and flowers)
Genesis Growers (vegetables)
Swan Creek Farm (pork, chickens, turkeys)
Another excellent source of farmer information is the web site Local Harvest. There you’ll find a nationwide database of small, sustainable farmers, organized by region, with detailed information about their products, markets and CSAs. Local Harvest has also partnered with Slow Food USA to catalog producers of US Ark Products, in an effort “to bring the Ark of Taste off the page and into farms and kitchens!”