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!



 
View the Complete Weblog

A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall


And it’s a hard and it’s a hard and it’s a hard hard
And it’s a hard rain’s a gonna fall…
(Bob Dylan)

I always fall back to Dylan on rainy days, and this song, well, it speaks for itself, but it’s also one of my favs, and I can be found singing this, many days, during my baking sessions.

Today is Monday, and I hope you all had a lovely weekend.

As I left you on Friday, I told you that my daughter was flying in from Florida so that we could wedding dress shop in Columbus. It was a magical weekend for her as most of her bridesmaids were with her, and I was so excited to have been included in all of the fun. It was an emotional time, as she emerged in what would become her choice of dresses. Beauty. Just beauty.

She’s my only, and she’s been a fighter since she was born. At six months of age, she needed open heart surgery for a heart defect she was born with. When she was in 6th grade, she had back surgery for scoliosis. In junior high, she went through a round of bullying, leading her to switch schools. But, all of this only made her stronger, made her a lovely soul, and taught her to always look out for those who need a bit of extra TLC. To help the underdogs. She is beauty, inside and out, and so this dress shopping day found me looking back at each obstacle in her life, but how each obstacle had a silver lining, and a lesson, and a new way to look at things.

So, I guess this song, means even more than just about the weather, to me. It’s about overcoming. I guess you could say this little market of love also survived many storms, in the beginning of it’s time, years ago, only to grow to what we have now.

A hard rain’s a gonna fall in all of our lives, at times, but together, we get through. I hope that is how you view this market. Yes, we have amazing products, we have the best of the best of local, we have super vendors, but most of all…this market has spirit, and love, and stamina, and compassion…

On this rain soaked day, why not work on your market orders? We will close, for the week, tomorrow eve, at 8pm, and I want to see all of your lovely faces on Thursday, at market pick up…

XOXO,
Cosmic Pam