Community Food Forum Yields Ideas

Ideas sprouted at Seven Generations Ahead's recent Food Forum, signifying yet another big step toward expanding the availability of responsibly raised food in the Oak Park area.

"It's food for thought, literally," said Gary Cuneen, executive director of , the environmentalist Oak Park-based nonprofit. Three groups present their ideas to a packed-house crowd at the on Thursday. They included:

• Gardner and carpenter Bill Sieck presented his plans for a robust and colorful "learning" garden filled with produce that's categorized by nutrient. The idea, Sieck said, would be to offer camps and courses for kids to learn about the science behind food. "I can even see vegetable gardens in the shape of [vitamin] letters," he said. Sieck also offered his vision for the garden, perhaps on university land, that's outlined by apple trees, with open seating areas nestled into the patches of produce.

• Cheryl Munoz and Jenny Jocks Stelzer outlined their vision for a northeast Oak Park food co-op — called "The Sugar Beet" — which would be supported by membership but open to the public. Though they're a year or two away from making the co-op a reality, they already have visions of people "stopping by the Beet" to pick up items like organic milk, poultry and granola, as well maybe offering a pick-up service for community supported agriculture (CSA) programs. Editor's note: The folks behind Sugar Beet are

• Seamus Ford, co-founder of Root-Riot, discussed plans to expand the "micro-enterprise" program, which has already seen success on Chicago's West Side. Among other learning opportunities, the micro-enterprise program teaches students how to design, build and sell cold frame boxes, which allow for year-round gardening, and to create simple greenhouses built from repurposed windows.

Thursday's forum was part of SGA's PlanIt Green initiative, the joint civic effort to put Oak Park, River Forest and surrounding areas on a roadmap toward sustainability. Through feedback surveys, the community set priorities for nine separate areas, from energy reduction to green transportation.

The goal for the plan's sustainable food portion is three-fold: using more local land to grow more food, increasing the availability of local and regional food throughout the year and building more healthy soil around town for growing.

Like many in the room, Sieck views food as a pathway to universal learning — there's geometry in the landscaping, photography in the gardens, world history and economics in the produce.

"I can't think of anything I can't teach with a vegetable garden," he said.