 "Living Earth Farm is committed to a system of agriculture which
strives for a balance with nature, using methods and materials
which are low-impact to the environment," said owner Anne
Patterson. "We never use genetically engineered seed or
synthetic pesticides and herbicides. We use crop rotations,
cover crops, companion plants and follow a soil building plan."
Patterson grew up on a farm in central Illinois and is a
registered dietitian and food consultant. Living Earth Farm is a
small vegetable, fruit, nut, herb and flower farm located on 15
acres in Fulton County and also on 80 acres in Peoria County. It
grows winter greens as well as spring, summer and fall crops.
Living Earth Farm sells produce at farmers markets, a local
restaurant and by subscription in what has been named "Friends
of Living Earth Farm program." Its primary marketing is weekly
customized orders via e-mail ordering.
Patterson's attitude about food and how it is grown began to
change after she completed culinary studies in 1996 at The
School of Natural Cookery in Boulder. "A few years later I heard
speech by Patrick Holden, who was director of the Soil
Association in the U.K. It was then that I knew I wanted to be a
part of the renaissance of organic farming," said Patterson. "I
wanted high-quality organic produce for my family and believed
others in the community might also want locally grown produce,
grown by sustainable methods."
Ponte Vecchio restaurant in Peoria, which buys produce from
Living Earth Farm, will send their chef, Josh Uteck; chef
Charles Robertson, instructor in the culinary arts program at
Illinois Central College, will be available for questions; and
Erin Meyer, owner and entrepreneur of Basil's Harvest, will
prepare specialty items. All three guests will be preparing
lunch with locally grown produce.
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 "One of the goals of the tour is to help promote the local
economy, because these local chefs buy locally grown produce," said
U of I Extension county director Roger Larson. "Another purpose of
the tour is to demonstrate that locally grown foods can be prepared
tastefully."
For more information about Living Earth Farm, visit
www.livingearthfarm.com.
The tour is co-sponsored by the Peoria County Initiative for the
Development of Entrepreneurs in Agriculture and the University of
Illinois Extension, Peoria County.
The remaining tours are as follows:
A fee of $20 per person will be charged for each tour. This fee
includes lunch. Registration at least one week in advance is
required. Visit
www.extension.uiuc.edu/smallfarm/ to register and for more
details about each of the tours, including a map and agenda; or
contact Donna Cray, 217-241-4644 or
dcray@uiuc.edu.
The tours are sponsored by the University of Illinois Extension,
the North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and
Education Professional Development Program, the
Agriculture Tourism
Partners of Illinois, and the Agroecology/Sustainable
Agriculture Program at the University of Illinois.
[Text from file received from
the University of Illinois
College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences] |
