FARM FRESH PIZZA CONNECTS FOOD AND FARMS FOR NON-FARMERS

Lindsay Mitchell

Oct 07, 2013  |  Today's News

The Magic House in St. Louis, MO celebrated its new Farm Fresh Pizza Parlor exhibit recently with over 100 volunteers from three counties in Missouri and nine counties in Illinois present to talk about farming with non-farm visitors.

The Farm Fresh Pizza Parlor is a children’s exhibit that connects many pizza ingredients with their on farm origination, even showcasing photos and profiles of the local farmers providing the ingredients for children and their parents to really connect the food on their plates and the farms where it’s grown.

Larry Hascheider, Illinois Corn Marketing Board Chairman and Okawville, IL farmer is featured as the dairy farmer providing the cheese for the Farm Fresh Pizza.  The Hascheider family owns and operates Elm Farms, when they raise beef cattle, pigs, dairy cattle and a variety of field crops.

The Liefer family of Red Bud, IL is also featured as grain farmers who provide crust for the Farm Fresh Pizza.

During the opening event, many farm themed activities were hosted and staffed by local Illinois and Missouri farmers.  The most popular of those was a chance to meet Rory the Holstein from the Hascheider’s farm.  The children were able to pet, milk, and have their picture taken with Rory while their parents visited with real farmers who grow their food.

This one-on-one dialogue and outreach is a direct result of the research conducted by the Illinois commodity groups.  The same research resulted in the Illinois Farm Families movement, an effort to create conversations and experiences between non-farmers and farmers in Illinois.