ABOUT US
The soil is the great connector of lives, the source and destination of all. It is the healer and restorer and resurrector, by which disease passes into health, age into youth, death into life. Without proper care for it we can have no community, because without proper care for it we can have no life. ― Wendell Berry
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Foxtrot Organic Farm
A New Tradition
Our Farm is an attempt to continue the tradition that American family farms have established: to support the local community environmentally, ethically, and economically by providing honestly nutritious, sustainably grown produce with incredible flavor.
Through the industrialization of commercial agriculture we’ve seen serious degradation of the environment, systemic exploitation of farm workers, and the loss of diversity & flavor in our food- all for an oftentimes poor quality end product that lacks the nutrients we need. When food isn't produced locally, there can be a disconnect between consumer and producer that allows these issues to grow out of hand. As food author Michael Pollan states, "You can vote with your fork and you can do it three times a day". By purchasing from Foxtrot, you can be confident those votes go towards sustainable practices that benefit your local community and its environment, without harming other folks "down the river".
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Farmer Ellen
Ellen has a passion for the Fox Valley and the four seasons that the Midwest provides. When she isn't helping Jeff in the fields, Ellen helps to manage an urban farm in Aurora that focuses on vertical farming and providing for low-income families. She serves as the co-founder and co-director of the Chillinois Young Farmers Coalition and enjoys advocating on behalf of beginning farmers in northern Illinois. Since graduating from Northern Illinois University with a degree in rhetoric, Ellen has been recognized as Glancer Magazine's 30 people under 40 making a difference in the Chicago suburbs for 2015.
While mornings and afternoons are for farming, Ellen embraces her evenings to create ultimate
palate-pleasing meals using the seasonal produce from the fields. From baking to fermenting, she looks forward to sharing recipes with the Fox Valley community!
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Farmer Jeff
Jeff is a first generation farmer. Growing up in the western suburbs of Chicago, Jeff worked on his first farm through a WWOOFing experience in Fulton, IL where he lived in a mosquito ridden 1960's camper full of holes with no electricity. Every morning and night he tended to 40 Jersey cattle, 150 chickens, 16 alpaca, 4 goats, 2 draft horses, 12 bee hives and too many barn cats all while raising strawberries, garlic, raw milk & fresh eggs. A typical day involved waking up early enough to see the sunrise cut through heavy dew on the pasture, in order to give fresh food and water to some 200 grateful beasts of all shapes and sizes before breakfast. Once morning chores were done, it was a feast of rich butterfat milk from the Jersey cattle and dark orange-yolk eggs from the pastured chickens- and the day had just started! Exhausted and full of new sights, sounds, and smells, he was hooked.
Jeff has since graduated from DePaul with a degree in Environmental Sciences, interned at urban farms in Chicago, recieved his Permaculture Design Certification in New York, and managed & worked on other organic, sustainable farms around the Midwest. He brings his knowledge and passion to Foxtrot where he hopes to make organic, sustainably grown food more accessible to everyone.