Bringing Home the Bacon

By Naperville Magazine
August 2023 View more Community

By Kelli Ra Anderson

Local farms and markets offer fresh food straight from the source

From heritage-breed beef, pork, milk, and eggs to same-day-picked produce, many people are scrambling to buy from nearby farms. Farmers’ markets alone have quadrupled over the past 30 years, while the farm-to-table and local-food movements remain strong.

Luckily, buying from local producers is easier than ever. Farmers’ markets, farm stands, you-pick places, CSAs (community supported agriculture co-ops where you buy weekly shares of produce), shops carrying local products year-round, and online ordering and delivery all provide greater access to more sustainable, more humanely raised, more nutritious (and delicious) foods.

Farmers and the environment benefit too. For Matt Klein—third-generation farmer and owner with his wife, Chris, of Klein Farms and Garden Market in Burlington (with stores in Elgin and Udina)—having his sons work alongside him each day is about as good as life gets. With the Kleins’ passion for bringing life back to the soil, nourishing the bio-environment with cover crops and integrating pest control, their daily picked sweet corn is sweeter and tomatoes tastier than ever, every day. “My dad always said, ‘You have to make the trip worthwhile–our produce has to be better–and the way you do that is daily harvest,’ ” Matt says. “We harvest what we need just for the day. That’s how we do it. Freshness.”

Due to growing demand, All Grass Farms in Dundee added online ordering to its business to keep pace with customers’ love of the high-butterfat milk from their purebred Guernsey cows. Meanwhile, Chase and Jessica Pasek, first-generation farmers at Pasek Farms in Lindenwood (plus owners of Pasek Farms General Store in Elgin), now deliver half and quarter sides of their prime-grade, pasture-raised beef and pork directly to customers, mindful of the value of convenience and conscientiousness. “People really want to know where their food comes from and to know their farmer,” Chase says.

CSAs (where weekly harvested produce is picked up or delivered to subscribing patrons) are another way to go local. “A CSA gave us the opportunity to support local agriculture and buy high-quality, organically grown produce,” says Michael Mackey of St. Charles. The goats roaming the farm? Value-added entertainment.

For more information, visit buyfreshbuylocal.org/Illinois.

A guide to fresh local sources

Farmers’ Markets/French Markets

SATURDAYS
Naperville, 7 a.m. to noon, 5th Avenue Station
Wheaton, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Main Street and Liberty Drive
Lisle, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., PrairieWalk Pond
Aurora, 8 a.m. to noon, 65 Water St.
Batavia, 8 a.m. to noon, North River Street between Wilson and Spring Streets
Downers Grove, 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Main Street Train Station

SUNDAYS
Geneva, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Metra parking lot
Glen Ellyn, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Metra parking lot
Oswego, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., 15 Main St.
Plainfield, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., library parking lot

MONDAYS
Hinsdale, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., Burlington Park

WEDNESDAYS
Elmhurst, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., 541 S. York St.
Winfield, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., Geneva and County Farm Roads

THURSDAYS
Bolingbrook, 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., The Promenade
Clarendon Hills, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., Village Hall

FRIDAYS
St. Charles, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., Baker Church

Farm Stands, Stores, and You-Pick Spots

Abbey Farms, Aurora, abbeyfarms.org
All Grass Farms, Dundee, allgrassfarms.com
Ed and Judie’s Self-Service Egg Farm, Aurora, ed-egg-farm.edan.io
Heritage Prairie Farm, Elburn, heritageprairiefarm.com
Keller’s Farmstand, kellersfarmstand.com
Klein’s Farm and Garden Market, kleinsfarmmarket.com
Kuipers Family Farm, Maple Park, kuipersfamilyfarm.com
Mayneland Farm, Naperville, maynelandfarm.com
Pasek Farms, Elgin, pasekfarms.com
Primrose Farm, St. Charles, primrosefarm.org
Wiltse’s Farm, Maple Park, wiltsefarm.com
Windy Acres Farm, Geneva, windyacresfarmstand.com

CSAs

Chanticlare Farm, Winfield, chanticlarefarm.com
Fulbuschel Farms, St. Charles, fulbuschelfarmandproduce.com
Green Earth Harvest, Naperville, theconservationfoundation.org/green-earth
Wellhausen Farms, Wheaton, wellhausenfarm.com

Photo: Jessica Pasek (Pasek Farms); iStock (produce)