Chicago Chefs Going Organic with an Accent on Locally & Regionally Produced Items

Simply organic

By MEGAN REICHGOTT ASSOCIATED PRESS March 16, 2005

CHICAGO - If chef Michael Altenberg has his way, everything from soup to nuts at his two Chicago-area restaurants will be organic.

He already serves mostly organic produce, meat, chicken and eggs at Bistro Campagne in Chicago and Campagnola in Evanston. But he hopes to take it a step further and get his restaurants certified as organic by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Altenberg is not alone in his organic food preference - products raised without chemicals and processed without additives. Chefs from such well-known eateries as Frontera Grill, Topolobampo, 312 Chicago and the Prairie Grass Cafe use organic products from small, Chicago-area farms.

Chefs say the taste and health benefits of organic products are worth the cost, which can run up to three times higher than regular produce.

But more importantly, they say, is the idea that organic and small farmers run their businesses the way they run their restaurants - with extra time, care and a personal connection to the customer and environment.

"They take the same perspective that we do on our food," said Rick Bayless, the chef-owner of Chicago Mexican restaurants Frontera Grill and Topolobampo. "They love diversity. They pack their food with care. They deliver the food the same way as we deliver a plate in the restaurant." Restaurant patrons seem to appreciate the combination. A growing number of consumers will pay more for organic products or ask the wait staff exactly where the food comes from, said Sarah Stegner, chef and owner of the Prairie Grass Cafe in Northbrook.

"Some restaurants are really now getting good at making the farm and farmer a part of how they describe the food," said Jim Slama, president and co-founder of Sustain, a Chicago-based nonprofit advocacy group.

Right now, Illinois farmers cannot provide enough high-quality organic produce to meet demand, forcing some chefs to buy from larger farms out west.

Farmers and chefs across the Midwest say the biggest obstacle is a lack of warehouses, trucking services and marketing programs to connect food with the demand epicenter in Chicago.

If the farmers try to sell their food closer to home, cutting down on transport time and costs, they often run into consumers unwilling to pay the higher price.

"Chicago is an incredible market, but outside of the city very few people are willing to pay what the food is worth," said Bill Davison, whose Congerville farm is located between Bloomington and Peoria.

Also, obtaining cheap organic supplies is a problem, said Vicki Westerhoff, whose 20-acre Genesis Growers farm is located in St. Anne, about 55 miles south of Chicago. She sells salad ingredients such as lettuce, mesclun greens and arugula to restaurant 312 Chicago.

"Everything has to be shipped in from a distance," Westerhoff said.

"Organic products cost me more to begin with, then I have the cost to ship them in." U.S. organic food sales grew between 17 percent and 21 percent each year from 1997-2003, according to the Organic Trade Association. Although food service (restaurants, schools and vending machines) accounted for just 2 percent of the $10.3 billion of total consumer sales, that translated into a $254 million market, association spokeswoman Holly Givens said.

Despite such appealing numbers, cultivating a relationship between organic farmers and top Chicago chefs has taken some work.

Seven years ago, chefs including Bayless and Stegner teamed with others to create Green City Market, a farmers market in Chicago where chefs, restaurateurs and locals mix with organic and small farmers.

"What's great is that people get a chance to talk directly to the farmer," Stegner said. "If you want something special, they'll grow it for you."