Farmers market very welcome in winter
Anyone aching for a taste of spring can find a little slice Sunday, when Epworth United Methodist Church in Elgin hosts an indoor Winter Farmers Market.
"I think people are excited because the summer farmers market in downtown Elgin went very well. We hope people will stop in to forget winter for a while," said Sandy Kaptain, a member of Epworth UMC.
The market will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Community Room at the church, which is at the northwest corner of Randall Road and Highland Avenue.
For sale will be locally produced meats, fish, poultry, preserves, honey, cheese, milk soaps, woolen goods and bedding -- and even freshly harvested produce. Many of the products are grown organically. All of them are produced in Illinois, Wisconsin or Iowa, primarily within 100 to 200 miles of the Chicago area.
"We'll have organic milled flour that was grown near DeKalb and ground in Kaneville," Kaptain said.
The market's fresh vegetable offerings will include lettuce, kale, herbs, chard and arugula grown in plastic-covered temporary greenhouses, known as hoop houses.
Ten percent of the proceeds from the market will benefit the Churches' Center for Land and People's Harvest of Hope Emergency Fund.
CCLP is a faith-based, not-for-profit organization that assists family-owned farms in Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa with cash grants.
The group was founded in 1986, according to its Web site, www.cclpmidwest.org, and has given away more than $600,000 to more than 1,000 recipients.
"It can be used for medical bills, even to purchase seeds to plant next season. Our goal is to keep small farms in the hands of small farmers," explained Robin Shirmer, Midwest coordinator for the CCLP.
Funds for Harvest of Hope are raised through indoor markets held in churches from November through March. A number of other Chicago-area churches have hosted Harvest of Hope indoor markets, including the Unitarian Universalist Church of Elgin, which is holding a market March 16.
The markets enable farmers to help other farmers and also provide a way for consumers to have access to locally grown produce year-round.
Tim Fuller, of Erehwon Farm, which is near Elburn, sells fresh vegetables through the Harvest of Hope markets and other area winter farmers markets.
He said that recently, winter markets have become more popular.
"It's definitely becoming a movement. A few years ago, there was nothing going on in the winter. Now these markets are springing up all over the place," Fuller said.
The appeal of the winter markets taps into several cultural trends: a desire to eat healthy, organically grown food, as well as a growing awareness of the environmental impact of shipping food long distances.
"It takes a lot of energy to ship food, not to mention refrigerate it," said Kaptain, who is also a member of Elgin-based Stop Global Warming. "The more we can do locally, we can forestall longer-range concerns."
Fuller, who operates a community-supported agriculture business in the summer months, said that many of his customers also believe that "eating local" protects them from illnesses that circulate in their local communities.
While Fuller adds that he has not studied the scientific ramifications of eating local, he's quick to vouch for his vegetables' fresh taste.
"As soon as you harvest and wash vegetables they tend to rapidly lose their vitamins and taste, even if they're kept at appropriate temperatures," he said.
"We pick, don't wash and get them to market right away, so you're getting food that is virtually right out of the garden."
If you go
What: Indoor Winter Farmers Market.
Where: Epworth United Methodist Church, northwest corner of Randall Road and Highland Avenue, Elgin
When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday
Info: (847) 931-5400 or www.cclpmidwest.org