CCFB News» June 2021

How to Select: When inspecting fruits and vegetables, use your senses. Ask yourself how the items smell, how it feels, and whether it looks appealing.

Thank you, member business, Ray's Quality Greenhouse, for hosting a Make a Pollinator Pot & More workshop for members and guests On May 4, 2021! This great event opened with character Beekeeper and Bee, Tyler & Kayla, sharing how important each are to the pollination of plants and need for pollinators!

Cook County Farm Bureau® has requested that Illinois Farm Bureau® opposes House Bill 1356. House Bill 1356 has been re-referred to the House Rules Committee; however, Farm Bureau is concerned that the content of this legislation will be amended onto a shell bill prior to spring adjournment.

The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), in partnership with Farm Credit, will open applications for the 2022 Farm Bureau Ag Innovation Challenge. Now in their eighth year, Farm Bureau and Farm Credit, are looking to identify ten entrepreneurs who are creating innovative solutions that address the needs of American farmers, ranchers, and rural communities.

A new study demonstrates switching to soy biodiesel results in a number of significant health benefits, such as decreased cancer risk, fewer premature deaths and reduced asthma attacks.

A third of the food and drinks individuals consume depends on pollination. As a keystone group, the survival of many other plant and animal species depends on pollinators for their survival. Pollinators include bees, butterflies, moths, beetles, flies, birds, and bats.

Illinois #4 On Food & Wine's 10 Best ‘Pizza States’ In America (Nexstar) – The editors at Food & Wine recently published their own list of the best “pizza states” in America. Illinois ranked fourth, thanks to its deep-dish pizza and thin-crust varieties.

Members of the Cook County Farm Bureau Governmental Affairs Committee continue their efforts to update policy, this time turning their attention to nutrition policy.

Each month we are highlighting a Cook County Farm Bureau Member: This month's "Face of CCFB" is... Mark & Donna Walsh, owner of M & D Farms & Garden Center.

Six months. Half a year. In the grand scheme of things, it’s a very short amount of time. In the scheme of do-it-yourself home repairs, it’s a very long time. In six months, we’ve added 10 calves and a calico barn cat; brought home an adorable, large Great Pyrenees puppy; tore out walls, ceilings, and an attic; plastered and lathed. We even learned that one of the supports of an original wall was crumbling. And we started rebuilding.

Illinois agriculture teacher jobs remain unfilled despite the largest number of ag ed graduates in nearly 20 years, a state ag education leader reported. And the number of openings may grow before school starts in the fall.

Our 2020-21 virtual school presentations have concluded! Reading the evaluations provided by many teachers, we can see the impact we had on the 12,000+ students we reached in classrooms throughout our county.

We were so excited to see 140 bookmark designs submitted to express gratitude for farmers and agriculture. Our annual bookmark contest is always one of the highlights of the year as we open our envelopes and emails and see how agriculture is perceived through the lens of a local artist. We thank teachers who submitted entries from their schools and individuals who entered on their own.    

Howdy everyone! My name is Emily Lopata, and I am the 2021 Agriculture Literacy Summer Intern. During my time with the Cook County Farm Bureau, I will be writing the column Ag with Em! Agriculture has always been a prominent topic in my life.

Americans not only cooked and ate more meals at home in 2020, but they also munched on different vegetables and fruits and changed their cooking techniques, according to a new report from FMI, the food industry association.

 We mount rain gauges on various fenceposts for measuring rainfall totals. My brother can cite the exact date of the previous year’s last freeze of spring and first freeze of fall as if they were birthdays. And I would predict an 80% chance of weather talk at the dinner table with my family.

We truly appreciate our members and want to say thank you for your membership, your involvement, your interest, and your support. We know that it has been a long and difficult year for many. Thank you for partnering with us to get through it!

Recipe printed with permission from member, Ray's Quality Greenhouse, staff member Bella of Chicago Ridge.

I was in a Zoom webinar the other day when the speaker said, “The phones will be ringing off the hook.” Then she said, “That’s a saying that we are going to have to update!” Outdated sayings and idioms. Created with meaning in context at an earlier time. We still understand the message today, although, we may have forgotten the context.