Chicago’s The Talking Farm is a nonprofit educational venture that teaches and provides experiences in farming for local kids, interns, and us general public types. We attended a TF “Farm Dinner” last evening to check them out and get educated. We came away impressed, edified, and with a new idea about how to help out in the fight against the urban food desert.

On two-and-a-half acres in a close-in Chicago suburb, The Talking Farm grows a wide variety of veggies, herbs, and fruit to bring the realities and benefits of local, sustainable agriculture to us all. Operating since 2006, The Talking Farm is a community-based sustainability gem, producing 6,000+ lbs of organic produce for local restaurants, a CSA, and food-for-the needy programs. Ten percent of output goes to help provision food banks.

The “talking” part of the farm’s work happens when their “farmer-educators” teach about the significance of locally and sustainably-grown food on the environmental, social justice, and health issues facing our communities. They teach how to take a personal part in a more sustainable, ecologically-balanced, and healthy future.

I hope you have a talking farm near you.