Local at a Glance

• Fresher products is one of the key reasons that consumer purchase locally.


• Lower prices are the #1 factor that may encourage increased local food purchases.


• 53% of consumers purchase local foods weekly.


• 100 miles is how the majority of consumers define local.


• Has roots in 2005 when four San Francisco women drew a circle with a 100-mile radius from the city with the mission to buy, cook and eat only that from within that 'food shed.'

HERITAGE PRAIRIE FARMS

Heritage Prairie Farms is a USDA Organic certified, sustainable farm in Elburn, IL, not far from our office in Geneva. They sell their produce and honey to folks straight from the farm, at farmers’ markets and stores like Whole Foods. We had a company event at the farm and that gave us an opportunity to explore their farm store, the Heritage Prairie Market, and see the local food products for sale there. Here’s a closer look at a couple items we saw:

Honey

First thing I noticed was the rows of adorable honey bears. I love honey bears! 

 

As I head over to take a closer look, movement catches my eye to the right. It’s a bee hive! They have a hive built into the side of the store with a glass back so you can peek in on the honey bees hard at work. If that’s not making a connection with your food, I don’t know what is! 

 

Making a connection with consumers by showing the real people behind the products is another trend we’ve seen in products on the grocery shelves, and it was here in the farm store, too. This transparency and “realness” ties nicely with consumer desires for local, natural and simplicity, as well. Here at the farm store a printed sheet with a information and a photograph introduced us to one of the beekeepers behind the honey bears. It shows us, “Yes, this is real honey right from the hive! You’re supporting an actual bee keeper — and his name is Al!” 

 

Brom’s Honey in nearby LaFox, IL, also sells honey at the farm store. I was totally interested in the variety of flavors, as I don’t usually see flavored honey at the grocery store. You can sample the different flavors, and I went for the honey and cinnamon. I had an idea of snickerdoodle cinnamon in my mind, but I was met with a taste surprise when the honey hit my tongue. It was Red Hot type cinnamon flavor, not Bakers cinnamon. This is a terrific example of why flavor descriptors are so important when working on developing a new product.

 

 

Meat

“Where does your meat come from?” asks a handwritten sign hanging over a freezer. Well, if you slide open the door and select the Lamb Maple Breakfast Sausage, you’re supporting Mint Creek Farm in Stelle, IL, near Kankakee, about an hour and a half south of Chicago. Their website tagline is: “Grass-fed meats raised on certified organic prairie pastures.”Or perhaps an Elk Bratwurst from Freedom Sausage Company in Earlville, IL, about an hour west of Joliet, is more to your taste.

 

 

STANDARD MARKET

Greens & Gills: Chicago-Grown Microgreens

This is an interesting find! Check out their company description: “Greens & Gills is your premiere Chicago source for local produce grown indoors using aquaponic farming techniques. Our indoor aquaponic growing systems create local produce and local jobs in a sustainable farming environment. in what was (once) a vacant industrial space.”

Local Folks Foods Hot Sauce

The LocalFolks Foods began with products created from ingredients grown on Steve and Anita Spencer’s seventh-generation family farm in Sheridan, IN. It now partners with family farms, farm cooperatives, and processors throughout the region, we help recreate and strengthen Midwest food networks and provide new opportunities for family farms as we continue to add to our line of natural and wholesome products.