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Posted by Mary Luz Mejia Jun 24, 2008 |
I was recently reminded of how important farmers are to the integrity and enjoyment of the food we eat at restaurants and in our own homes. A three hour ride out to Central Illinois from Chicago gave me the opportunity to meet Marty Travis, his wife Kris and their teenaged son Will (maker of some fine maple syrup!). The family call themselves "stewards of the land;" land that was settled in 1830 by their fourth great-grandfather, Valentine Darnall.
Today, Spence Farm & Spence Farm Foundation provides some top notch eateries with seasonal produce including nettles, ramps and pawpaws. Of course other less "wild" items are grown on the farm, and the family keeps heritage breed cows and pigs on hand as well.
Spence Farm is the kind of place that reminds you that it's family owned and operated outfits like theirs that make eating locally and sustainably a wonderful thing. The Travis family supplies restaurants like Rick Bayless' Frontera Grill and Topolobampo with a spate of fresh goods, and they in turn make the most amazing wild nettle corn tamales I've ever savoured out of just one of their crops. Up next- radish seed pods that will be turning up in Frontera's salads and possibly as pickles. Fresh, spicy and so unexpectedly wonderful!
It was Edible Toronto's publisher Gail Gordon-Oliver that first opined that farmers and producers of artisanal foods are the next rock stars. After meeting the Travis family, I think she's spot on!