CCFB News» December 2018

Join Cook County Farm Bureau as we explore themes of social class, sacrifice, food insecurity, and compassion. Through readings, group discussion, presentations, and a group work night at a local pantry, Book Club participants will also learn about Cook County agriculture.

In the spring of 2019, the Will-South Cook Soil and Water Conservation District will award three $1,000 scholarships, including the Allen May and Dick McHugh Memorial Scholarships.

For the tenth consecutive year, the Conserv FS Board of Directors has declared near record levels of patronage refunds. Consistent with last year’s payout, patronage of $3 million will be paid out for 2018 fiscal year purchases. And again this year’s patronage payout will be paid as 70% cash and 30% Class E preferred stock.

Trouble with Food Stamps at Farmers Markets (NPR’s The Salt) – A change in this year’s federal contracts has left some farmers market operators nervous. The company that has long provided the technology that allows local farmers markets to accept SNAP benefits says it is pulling out of the business, jeopardizing recipients’ access to fresh food.

Cook County Farm Bureau® Annual Gala...
This year at Gaelic Park in Oak Forest , Saturday March 9, 2019. Tickets are now available!

In the winter, our barns are kept at about 40 degrees. When a barn is colder and drier it often means animals will stay healthier because fewer germs will spread in that type of environment.

As the end of the year approached, it was time to get all of those last-minute tune-ups and check-ups which included one very interesting conversation about agriculture.

Winter weather forecast up in the Air: El Nino Expected to be a Key Factor (FarmWeekNow)- El Nino patterns typically mean milder winter conditions in Illinois. For those who follow the Old Farmers’ Almanac, it predicts a wet season.

Each month we are highlighting a Cook County Farm Bureau Board Member: This month's "Face of CCFB" is...Mark Yunker

In November, Cook County’s voter turnout hit an eye-popping 28 percent, or the sixth highest recorded turnout in the last 12 years.  With those votes comes a wave of new faces.  In January, JB Pritzker, Juliana Stratton, and Kwame Raoul will join incumbents Jesse White, Susana Mendoza, and Michael Frerichs at the helm of Illinois’ government.  Together they’re charged with leading Illinois out of impending fiscal doom and into prosperity.

“We are pleased to help students through our growing scholarship program,” said Susan Moore, director, IAA Foundation. “It is a great privilege to support the next generation of leaders, and encourage continuing education in agricultural fields.”

Recipe reprinted with permission from member, Pamela Bruns found in our 2018 Cookfresh Recipe Collection Brochure, available online at www.cookcfb.org/discover-local/recipes.

I love this time of year. My infatuation with the holiday season seems fitting for a Christmas Eve baby who literally traveled home from the hospital in a Christmas stocking. I’m so in love with the Christmas season that my husband and I decorated a “wedding tree” at our late-summer reception in the farm shop: a 12-foot scotch pine under which guests placed presents – the tree itself was a gift from the local Christmas tree farm.

I have read some disturbing information about dihydrogen monoxide, also known as "hydroxylic acid". It is accelerating corrosion and causing suffocation on a global scale. The product, used frequently in industrial and chemical processes, has been found in many local city water pipes.  It can cause severe burns and is purported to contribute to the greenhouse effect.  Yikes!  Ban it, regulate it, label it!