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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Thursday!


Opening the market, again, for everyone who may have missed out, this past week, for anyone who has ever thought about ordering, and for those ever loyal customers, who order, each and every week…

Our love for you is real…

I am opening things up, feel free to order like crazy, and I will be back to check on things, inspire you with witty blogs, and try to show you just how easy it is to order local, eat local, be local…

Go ahead…it’s cool…

XOXO,
Cosmic Pam

Wake Up!


It’s your Wednesday calling…

So, once again we watch a blissful holiday weekend just float on by. I hope you were able to spend it exactly the way you wanted or needed.

And, if you are like me, you are now one day behind, thinking it’s a Tuesday on a Wednesday.

I know you were busy, and not thinking about ordering, or this market, but the good news is that you still have until 8am, this morning, to groove it all together.

We understand that holidays and holiday weekends take a toll on our thought process. That is why we want you to know that we are here, and we can help ease you into the weekend. Which is coming up, already, again…

XOXO,
Cosmic Pam

Hurricane Harvey


Our hearts go out to all who have been affected by Hurricane Harvey. In times like these, we stop and realize that we are all in a position to help, in some way.
In conjunction with the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce, and the United Way of Clark, Champaign & Madison Counties, we will be helping out!

This week, on our market, there is a featured product for Hurricane Harvey. When you are placing your weekly orders, or if you would just like to donate to the relief fund, you can click on the listing. When you check out, you can edit the “quantity” of the product, to increase your donation, if you wish.

Right now, it is a 1.00 donation. Just shop that, as you would any product that is listed, and after the September 9th date, I will ask the YMCA to submit a check from our market, to the combined efforts of the Chamber, and United Way, for the relief fund!

We thank you, from the bottoms of our hearts, and from those in need…

XOXO,
Cosmic Pam

Going Up The Country


I’m goin’ up the country, babe, don’t you wanna go?
I’m goin’ up the country, babe, don’t you wanna go?
Take you to some place I’ve never been before…
(Up The Country-Canned Heat)

That’s what this market feels like, to me…a little bit of the country, right at your finger tips, easy to order from, easy to love, food that comes straight from our growers’ well tended gardens, fields, land…

Yesterday, before racing to get the market ready for order pick up, I made another salad. I know, I know…I talk a lot about salads, but I do make other amazing lunches/dinners, but my salads are someone else’s fast food through a drive through window. I make sure all of the components of my salads are washed, ready to go, and that I cover greens, colors, proteins, vibrancy.

ANYWAY…the salad, once again, featured products from this market, and vegetables straight out of our Hippie and the Farmer garden. The colors, the taste, the everything were just bursting with amazing taste, amazing texture, amazing everything!

Then, I grabbed a store bought apple that I bought, in a rush, just in case I had no time for lunch. I know better than this…but, impulse, and all. After the amazing taste explosion of the salad, and then the blandness of that apple from who knows where, was so night and day. And, once again, proved my point about eating local, eating from the land, knowing your farmers.

So, with that…think about us when you are making your grocery list. We have it all! And, we are a passionate group doing it all for you, for us, for our families, for the environment…

XOXO,
Cosmic Pam

Happy Thursday!!


It’s Thursday evening, it’s time to open the market, and let’s get to ordering…

We are here, everyday, all year…we love your support, we love your trust, and we love your dedication to eating healthy, affordable, locally grown food!!

The holiday weekend is upon us, but don’t let that mess up your ordering vibe…

XOXO,
Cosmic Pam

Wrap It Up!


It’s Wednesday morning!! The market will be closing at 8am!!

Don’t forget that this is the holiday weekend heading straight for us!! Do you have everything you may need for your celebrations?

Grilling, relaxing, traveling, entertaining…you need us!! Go, get your orders in!!

ALSOTHE YMCA IS ON SHUTDOWN, THIS WEEK!! It happens, every year!! But, it never messes up our market. Vendors can still bring product, the market will still be there for pick up, and customers can still come in to grab their orders.

We thank the YMCA, and their staff, for allowing us to continue during their weeks of shutdown!!

Ok…now, go…

XOXO,
Cosmic Pam

Morning Song


‘Cause even though I know there’s hope in
Every morning song
I have to find that melody alone…
(Morning Song-The Avett Brothers)

Just sitting here, with coffee, listening to slow Monday tunes, working on lists for the day, and thinking about this market.

Actually, as I look into my morning coffee cup, I am thinking of how each of my days begins, ends, and runs with items from the this market.

The other day, I broke down my salad, and gave you a ton of options to go pair with it, all from this market.

Today, as I sip my coffee, once again, I am so happy for this market, and once again, I am enjoying the labors of the market.

My toast is well, shameless plug for me, but it’s sliced Cosmic Whole Wheat, toasted, and topped with a drizzle of syrup from Valley View Woodlands. On the side, I have a sliced peach from Champaign Berry Farm, and in my cup, Hemisphere’s Jamaican Me Crazy coffee, that comes to us, not only from their coffee roasting/coffeehouse, in Mechanicsburg, but via our own local coffee house, and newest vendor, Spotted Cow Coffeehouse!!

And, with that, I thought I would copy this for them…

Bobbi Custer was inspired to open The Spotted Cow Coffeehouse by her brothers, Eric and Levi, who both have Down’s syndrome. In 2013, Custer put full effort toward her overall vision: a workplace opportunity for her brothers and those with similar abilities to thrive with the motivation that their dreams are of genuine worth too. Downsize Farm and Hemisphere Coffee Roasters have been valuable contributors to the Spotted Cow vision. CEO of Downsize Farm and Bobbi’s father, Bob Custer, set the cornerstone for SCC’s opening. Bob Custer provided powerful mentoring and advice with focus in business and The Department of Developmental Abilities alike. Likewise, Paul and Grace Kurtz of Hemisphere Coffee Roasters have been a viable resources because of knowledge in the industry. Hemisphere Coffee Roasters is the sole supplier of coffee for The Spotted Cow Coffeehouse. The Spotted Cow Coffeehouse feels that with this team, as well as many other partners, can fulfill their overall vision, to be the spot in the community that contributes to opportunity.

And, with great pride, my Cosmic breads provide a few of their lunch sandwiches. I am proud to be part of their team, their community vision, to be a local link up to the ‘burg with Hemisphere’s, and as their market manager, here.

Just another local piece of heart and soul, coming straight from this market…

Make sure to check out all of our market selections, growers, vendors…we all have a story, a vision, and determination…

XOXO,
Cosmic Pam

Hello, I Love You!


Hello, I love you
Let me jump in your game…
(Hello, I love You-The Doors)

The love, the little local market of love, the thrill of supporting all things local, the fact that I was just having a Doors discussion with one of my best friends…it all adds up to how I feel about this market, this community, all that I do…

She holds her head so high
Like a statue in the sky
Her arms are wicked and her legs are long
When she moves my brain screams out this song…
(Ok…add the riff, here…)

This market makes us all very, very proud. To look back, is only to look ahead, and to look in the present, of all that we have done. We never thought we would make it past the first year, we knew we had a huge pride in all that we were attempting, we did not know we would be such a driving force in this local scene, and yet, here we are, years later, singing our song…

Hello, I love you…

I am opening the market, tonight, with a huge thank you to the customers who support us, the vendors who supply us, and the YMCA who houses us…

It’s nothing but a love fest…

XOXO,
Cosmic Pam

Last Dance


So c’mon baby
Dance that dance
C’mon baby
Dance that dance
C’mon baby
Last dance tonight…
(Last Dance-Donna Summer-Thank God It’s Friday movie-1978)

Last chance for love…come on, you can groove it. It’s the last chance for this week’s market in this little local market of love…

The market closes at 8am, and it’s a crazy amazing market, this week!! We’ve got it all, so why not put on those disco boots, and boogie on down to the market site to place your orders!!

We will see you, Thursday, picking up your orders, and doin’ the hustle, baby!

XOXO,
Cosmic Pam

Eclipse


All that you touch
All that you see
All that you taste
All you feel.
All that you love
All that you hate
All you distrust
All you save.
All that you give
All that you deal
All that you buy,
beg, borrow or steal.
All you create
All you destroy
All that you do
All that you say.
All that you eat
And everyone you meet
All that you slight
And everyone you fight.
All that is now
All that is gone
All that’s to come
and everything under
the sun is in tune
but the sun
is eclipsed by the moon.
(Pink Floyd-Eclipse-Dark Side Of The Moon album 1973)

Will you remember it, always? It was one of the most mesmerizing events that I will ever witness. I hope you all were able to partake.

The market is open for another day, the orders are pouring in, and we don’t want you to miss out. Use the energy from yesterday, to groove you…we close at 8am, tomorrow morning…

XOXO,
Cosmic Pam