CHICAGO, Ill. — The Mayor’s Office of Special Events and Chicago’s Green City Market will host an all-day workshop for farmers market participants from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 6, at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, 2430 N. Cannon Drive, on the north side of Lincoln Park Zoo at Fullerton Avenue.

The event is the first of its kind, and planners hope to grow and strengthen the partnership between urban dwellers and those responsible for growing the foods people eat every day. The day’s agenda is driven by years of market experience and a unique Chicago’s Green City Market (CGCM)-Mayor’s Office of Special Events (MOSE) partnership which supervises a farm forager who has accumulated valuable data from detailed farm visits in the four-state region.

“The goal is to bring Chicagoans and visitors alike nutritious and fresh foods while supporting local farmers,” said Jim Law, executive director of MOSE.

The office annually hosts 30 markets throughout Chicago and Chicago’s Green City Market, considered one of the best markets in the country, located at 1750 N. Clark and Stockton Drive. CGCM is the only sustainable organic market in Chicago. Markets are scheduled May through October; exact dates will be available in April on the Web at www.cityofchicago.org/specialevents

The workshops will be led by experts in the field and include seminars on advanced farming techniques. The day’s events include:

•8:35 a.m. - Welcome by Law; Abby Mandel, founder and president of CGCM; and Laurene Von Klan, executive director of The Peggy Notebaert Museum
•9-9:30 a.m. - Effective Marketing for Small Family Farmers: Farmer-Chef Connections, Marketplace Know-how, Preservation of Farmland
•9:45 a.m. - Chicago Marketplace Opportunities - Growing to Meet the Needs
•11 a.m. - Value-Added: Getting More from Farm Production and Extending the Season Ball Canning
•1:30 p.m. - Marketing Skills and Branding for Marketplace Success
•3:45 p.m. - Chicago’s Emerging Visibility as a Food Attraction

This event is closed to the general public. It is open to potential participants and the media only. For details, contact Veronica Resa at 312-744-5648, or e-mail her at veronicaresa@cityofchicago.org

This farm news was published in the February 1, 2006 issue of Farm World.