There is a great line-up of buyers for Meet the Buyer events scheduled for Galesburg, Carbondale and St. Charles, Illinois. Farmers from throughout Illinois are invited. These events are free to farmers. RSVP's are required.
Nov. 4, Knox County Farm Bureau, 180 S. Soangetaha Rd, Galesburg, IL RSVP to 309 342-2036 or visit website knoxcfb.org for online registration.
University of Illinois-Extension will present two education sessions: MarketReady (9:15 am) and Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) (11:30 am). Buyers will begin arriving midmorning and those that have confirmed are from the following organizations: Quad Cities Food Hub, Neimann Foods, Buyer for all Hy-Vee stores in Illinois, Loffredo Foodservice, Macomb Food Co-op, Knox College and Augustana College. A special chef and farmer one-one-one session will take place between 2:15-4:00 pm. There will be an update regarding the Local Food Hub Feasibility Study Results for Knox County. Market Maker will be in attendance to register farmers.
Nov. 8th Kane County Farm Bureau, 2N710 Randall Rd, St. Charles, IL RSVP to 630 584-8660
The day will kick off with Chef Zak Dolezal from Duke's Alehouse and Chef Serena Perdue with Niche restaurants. Other buyers will begin arriving midmorning and those that have confirmed are from the following retail and other types of organizations: Meijers, Northern Illinois Food Bank, Soup to Nuts, Dominick's, Mariano's, Shop-N-Save Angelo's Caputo Fresh Market, Fresh Moves.
University of Illinois-Extension will provide educations sessions: Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) and MarketReady as well as provide information regarding the USDA grant University of Illinois received for a Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program titled "Preparing a New Generation of Illinois Fruit and Vegetable Farmers." Market Maker will be in attendance to register farmers.
Nov. 14, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, RSVP directly to Jackson County Farm Bureau at 618 684-3129
The day will kick off with education session MarketReady, provided by University of Illinois-Extension. Buyers planning on attending will begin arriving midmorning and include organizations such as Neighborhood Co-op, Camp Ondessonk, Rosemont Farms, a C.H. Robinson company, Schnucks, and Ole Tyme Produce, Inc., and others. Another education session, Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) provided by University of Illinois-Extension will take place during lunch and A special networking session will take place between 2:00 and 3:30 pm to meet with regional chefs.
Source: State of Illinois Department of Agriculture