The Weblog
The local foods movement is alive and well in Champaign County! Here are some updates on other projects while we finalize our virtual market:
Local Producers Map:
Our local producers map is ready for publication and you will soon be able to find it on gochampaign.com. Copies will be distributed around the community, in the local telephone book, and other “hangouts”. The guide lists the location and contact information for nearly 50 local producers within our county. The map was a project of the Local Food Council and printed with the help of some local sponsors including the Monument Square District, Champaign Bank, the Community Improvement Corporation, the Chamber of Commerce, the Farm Bureau and others. It is a great start to finding a local source for Champaign County’s finest!
California Dreamin'
All the leaves are brown and the sky is gray…
I’ve been for a walk on a winter’s day…
I’d be safe and warm if I was in L.A…
It wasn’t at all a winter’s day, today, but by the time I reached home, after a very busy day down in my shop, I had been rained on, repeatedly, and felt so chilled and in need of a glass of wine, and the shelter of my favorite blankets, that it made my mind drift off to the days I lived in California..
I have been reflecting, a lot, about that time in my life. I think it has a lot to do with this past weekend’s State Of The Plate celebration. The theme was, Dare To Dream. I started my speech off with….“I am the girl who dared to dream…”
Dreams…of the Cali nature or any nature, they are what we are made of! They are the magic to our thoughts! They are the pixie dust to making it all happen for us!! They tell us to reach for what you wish, and the dream will come true.
It occurred to me that I have always had an easy time of jumping on the dream…making what I want all happen! I never set out with a clear cut plan, but somehow, I always make it all happen.
I was always teased for being such a Pollyanna. Always believing that it would all be ok, all good. I just believed that if I wanted it, I could make it all happen. And, I usually did. I mean, I had my setbacks. Who doesn’t. But, in all of my thoughts back on my life, most of them reflect back on dreams, not knowing how I would achieve them, but always knowing that somehow I would!
Dreams are important. Dreams fuel us. They feed us. They drive us. They can make us insane but then, right at the height of insanity, dreams can bring clarity…they bring us the plan, the vision, the rainbow.
This little local market of love was all about a long ago dream. A dream of bringing local markets to a whole new level. A different playing field. Uniting all things local under one umbrella.
I like to think that with each week, with each order, we continue the path that the original dream started to take us. We are such a strong little community, a vibrant little market, such a source for local love…
It was the dream…and now we are living it…how amazing is that??? To dream a dream and help it take shape…California or Champaign County…the dreams are the same.
Tonight is Tuesday, we close the market at 10pm, and we want you on that dream!! Get your orders in!! Be part of this amazing movement that once was just a dream…
Peace and Love,
Cosmic Pam