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!



 
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Bookends


Time it was
And what a time it was, it was
A time of innocence
A time of confidences…
(Simon and Garfunkel)

Good morning on this very cold, icy morning, little local market customers! I hope you are all warming up with coffee, tea, and staying safe if you need to be out and about.

The weekend was a quiet one for me. I had an afternoon with an old friend, on Saturday, and a long conversation with another long time friend, that evening. I had text messages from other longtime pals. I guess it was my weekend to hold onto connections. Catch up. Laugh, chat, remember…I treasure my friends, so much, and I think from childhood to adulthood, those who have withstood, are like my own bookends. Keeping me together. Grounded. Remembering that no matter who I am, today, I owe so much to all of them in helping to make take the steps on life’s journey.

Maybe that is why this market, and you, the customers, are so very dear to me. You make up a very important part of me, in this last decade. Through this market, I have built businesses, served on boards, committees, fought for the survival of this market, used my loud mouth to get the message out there about local food, the local landscape…building networks, new bonds, new friendships. This market, in these past ten years, has given me a new set of bookends for this chapter. And, yet, maybe just one bookend, because we are still growing, still groovy, and nowhere ready to have the second bookend put into place. We all still have much work to do in our next ten years with the market.

A lot of wordiness on a Monday…but, also, a simple reminder for us all to cherish each chapter. And, the market is open until tomorrow morning, taking this week’s chapter of orders…

I look forward to seeing you all on Thursday.

AND…Thursday is to be very cold, so if you do not want to be out in the cold, we can deliver to you, for a small fee, on Friday!! Keep that in mind…

Have a lovely day…

XOXO,
Cosmic Pam