June Meeting Recap: Sustainable Food

Sustainable food refers to food production and consumption practices that minimize environmental harm. It involves environmentally-friendly farming, minimizing waste, cutting down on emissions, and promoting economically viable food systems by sourcing food locally.

Greener Grove hosted a panel discussion on sustainable food at its June meeting. Moderated by GG member Ryan Coughlin, panelists included:

• Jerry Nash, Co-Founder & Director, Prairie Food Co-op 

  • Prairie Food Co-op is a grocery store in Lombard that exists to make fresh, local food accessible year-round while creating a positive impact on our community.

• Connie Kollmeyer, Agroecology Educator, The Conservation Foundation

  • The Conservation Foundation works to improve the health of our communities by preserving and restoring natural areas and open space, protecting rivers and watersheds, and promoting stewardship of our environment. The Conservation Foundation’s Green Earth Harvest is a certified organic farming operation that produces clean, delicious, non-GMO vegetables for our local community.

• Crystal Echevarria, Founder & Chef, Culinary Confidante

  • Culinary Confidante provides menus, coaching, and workshops for people and organizations moving into plant-based eating, empowering kitchen creativity, one person at a time.

Moderator Ryan Coughlin and Chef Crystal Echevarria discuss sustainable food.

With over 40 people in attendance, there was no shortage of questions for the panelists! It was also clear that GG members enjoy talking about all things food - growing, buying and preparing, as well as composting. 

Greener Grove Meeting: June 24, @ Lincoln Center in Downers Grove

Practices that Contribute to Sustainability of Food

Plant-Based Diets

Eating more plant-based foods like fruits, vegetables, legumes, and grains generally has a lower environmental impact than consuming large amounts of animal products.

Seasonal and Local Produce

Choosing foods that are in season and locally sourced reduces carbon emissions and supports local farmers.

Reducing Food Waste

Minimizing food waste at all stages from production to consumption is crucial, including composting food scraps.

Sustainable Farming Practices

Adopting methods like regenerative agriculture, organic farming, and crop rotation can improve soil health and reduce the need for

harmful fertilizers and pesticides.

Sustainable Seafood Choices

Choose seafood that is wild  caught or sustainably caught

with consideration for long-term fish populations and ecosystems. Look for labels like Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC).

Take Action

One big takeaway from the meeting: living more sustainably requires looking for opportunities to reduce food miles (the distance food travels from its source to your plate) and minimize food waste. Here’s what you can do:

• Grow your own food - in your yard, in containers on a balcony or kitchen counter, or in a community/shared garden plot. Experiment and learn from fellow Greener Grove members. Take advantage of online and in-person classes to jumpstart your learning curve. If you have kids, involve them - The Conservation Foundation offers camps and other learning opportunities for kids.

• Buy local - There are lots of choices, including CSAs (community supported agriculture), farmers markets, and now a food co-op. Prairie Food Co-op opens July 9th and will focus on selling locally sourced, organic and sustainable foods. Anyone can shop there whether you are a member or not, though membership offers a number of benefits. The Conservation Foundation’s Green Earth Harvest offers a CSA and operates a farmstand, selling vegetables grown on McDonald Farm. 

• Get curious in the kitchen - Do you suspect that better menu planning and pantry organization might cut down on food waste in your household? Do you want to level up your cooking to take advantage of seasonal ingredients? Challenge you/your household/your friends to learn something new. For example, explore a new cuisine that takes advantage of all the fresh produce right now. Culinary Confidante offers a wide range of cooking and technique workshops, as well as individual coaching sessions. 

• Take care of the soil - learn to compost - Greener Grove’s Compost Coach Program is a great place to start. 

Greener Grove's Compost Coaches offer personalized mentorship to help you start composting in your own backyard.

Resources to Check Out

Throughout the meeting (and after), panelists and attendees mentioned favorite websites, apps, and local/regional farms, including:

Cooking

• Forks Over Knives (also a documentary film) 

• Nora Cooks

• Plant You

• Seafood Watch, including fish in the Great Lakes

• SuperCook - Zero Waste Recipe Generator

Local Farmstands - Check their websites for hours

• Mill Street Produce - Mayneland Farm in Naperville 

• Rustic Road Farm in Elburn

Organizations/Farms Committed to Strengthening Food Systems

• Illinois Stewardship Alliance

• Spence Farm

• McDonald Farm

May Meeting Recap: Begin Birding

written by Yvonne Malone

Step outside into your neighborhood, the park or forest preserve… Now, stop and listen. Really listen… What bird sounds do you hear? 

Birding expert and DuPage Birding Club Member, John Cebula, spoke about the fascinating world of birding, including how to identify birds, at Greener Grove’s May meeting.

John Cebula presents at Greener Grove general meeting Tuesday, May 27, Lincoln Center.

Why Birds Matter

Birds are an important part of our ecosystem, helping with pollination, seed dispersal and even pest control.

May 27 Greener Grove Meeting

They act as a biodiversity indicator: if a habitat is changing due to climate change, loss of habitat, or other factors, birds will respond early to these changes.

As birding gains in popularity, some communities are benefiting economically from an increase in tourism. Birding is also leading to increased attention to conservation efforts that preserve habitats and protect local bird populations.

Where to See Birds in the DuPage Area

John shared several of his favorite birding spots, including local DuPage County forest preserves like Green Valley, Hidden Lake, and Maple Grove, as well as Morton Arboretum and Cantigny.

One of the best times of day to observe birds is early in the morning. During Spring and Fall migrations you can catch a glimpse of birds not typically found in the area as they pass through on their way to their final destination. 

How to get Started in Birding

The beauty of birding is that we can enjoy it in our own backyards and neighborhoods or venture to new places both near and far. It can be a solo activity or something we share with others. 

Learning to identify birds by listening to their calls or songs, as well as observing their profile and field marks - for example, overall color, distinctive markings, and beak color - is key to understanding what we are seeing. John added, “Before you decide what the bird is, decide what it is not.” 

To get started in birding and begin to decipher what you are seeing, John had these recommendations: 

• Invest in a field guide like Peterson Field Guide to Birds or the Sibley Guide to Birds (includes more detail) and learn about the birds in our area.  

• Purchase a pair of binoculars. The most common sizes are 7x35 and 8x42. (The first number refers to the magnification and the second refers to the diameter of the objective lens.) 

• Download a birding app like Merlin Bird ID, eBird, or Audubon Bird Guide. These are all free apps and each has different features. 

In addition to resources linked above, here are several others to tap into to learn more and connect with others:

• Chicago Bird Alliance

• Chicago Ornithological Society

• DuPage Birding Club

• iNaturalist

• Will County Audubon

• Local forest preserve districts

Facebook groups - Connect with John Cebula on his John’s Nature for All Facebook page 

Take Action

John highlighted during his presentations that since the 1970s, the United States has lost 2.9 billion birds, which is approximately 25% of its bird population. Contributing factors to this loss include habitat loss, climate change, cats, and light pollution, especially during migration periods. 

Actions we can take close to home include:

• Use native plants in landscaping to attract native insects and native bees. Check out the Audubon Society’s bird-friendly native plant finder.

• Replace lawns with native plants.

• Clear out invasive species like buckthorn and garlic mustard. 

• Turn off or minimize outdoor lights at night. Learn more here.

A Postscript: Birding Field Trip

We enjoyed a hands-on learning experience several days later with a field trip to Lyman Woods, where we practiced identifying the birds we were hearing and seeing. 

May 31: Greener Grove members look for birds in Lyman Woods

This Spring, Do More by Doing Less: Low Mow May

written by Yvonne Malone & Steve Ruffolo

Late Winter and early Spring are messy here in the Midwest. Garden beds look unkempt, twigs and small branches lie scattered on the ground, last years’ flower heads bend in the wind and slowly fall apart, grass is a dull brown. 

Almost instinctively, as temperatures start to climb and days lengthen, we begin making order out of the chaos: We start cleaning out garden beds, mow the lawn, and make plans for the season ahead. 

There are a couple of good reasons, though, to slow down those clean-up tasks, according to the experts. 

What We See Above Ground Belies What is Happening Below in the Soil

There is a lot of activity happening in all that debris we are anxious to clear away. Leaf litter, small branches, hollowed out stems from last year’s flowers, all provide a good habitat for insects that overwinter, as well as a safe harbor for those in the egg or larva stage. And, the emerging landscape provides a food source for pollinators (assuming bloom times are aligned with the pollinator’s needs).

Do More by Doing Less

Here’s what you can do to help the native bee, butterfly, ladybugs and other beneficial insect populations get established…

• Hold off on cleaning out beds, adding a new layer of mulch, and mowing the grass until temperatures are consistently above 50 degrees overnight. And, if you can leave a garden bed alone longer for those species that emerge later, all the better.

  
  

  

  
  

• Limit mowing to every 2 weeks. In years past, there has been a lot of discussion around No Mow May, a movement that started in the U.K. which advocated for not mowing during the month of May. The ever-evolving science around this approach suggests that for those of us on this side of the pond and in the Midwest, we should instead adopt a "Low Mow May" practice.

  

  
  

• Focus on making plans for the new season, especially ones that result in attracting and supporting pollinators and other wildlife throughout the growing season. Whether you are turning a little-used area of the lawn into a new garden bed or changing up an existing bed, consider planting native species with varying bloom times, colors, heights and shape to attract a wide range of pollinators.  

  

  
  

Learn More

Here are several resources to tap into as you make garden plans this year. To learn about others, be sure to connect with Greener Grove on Facebook and Instagram and sign up for

our e-newsletter here.

• “It’s Almost May; Is it Time to Stop Mowing?,” University of Illinois Extension Office 

• Homegrown National Park - Resources for using native plants in a landscape to create a more biodiverse ecosystem.

• Possibility Place Nursery - Native plant nursery in Monee, Illinois (approximately 45 minutes from Downers Grove)