The Big Feed Event

 This weekend I went with a friend to one of my favorite grocery stores, Harvest Market, for an event called The Big Feed. 

For anyone not familiar with Harvest Market, they support a lot of local small business producers. They sell their product and also give them primo space so people can discover these great products. This weekend the store opened their doors for the local vendors to come in and set up stations and pass out samples of their products and to share their products with the masses. 

This event was very cool to be able to talk to the person that roasted the coffee, or made the salsa, or worked on getting the best products to sell. 

I personally really enjoyed talking with the ladies from the Spartan Valley Olive Oil Company located in Springfield IL. The olive oil was reasonably priced for a good local product and tasted delicious. The most exciting part for me though was that they are helping me get a product I have been looking for months for! I have a recipe I want to make that calls for a specific Greek cheese that I have been unable to locate elsewhere. So, while I was sampling their product, I took a shot and asked if they carried Greek cheese and specifically the Kasseri I had been looking for and they do! You have no idea how excited this made me. They even gave me their contact number so I can call and make sure they have it in stock. 

They focus on working on bringing natural, fresh, extra virgin olive oil to us from Sparta, in Southern Greece. They also sell other products made with olive oil and sell Kalamata olives and Basalmic Vinegar.  Not only can their products be found at Harvest Market but they also have been found at the Old Capital Farmers Market on Saturday mornings. Their shop has very limited hours only on Tues and Thurs from 11-2. I also believe from our conversation that they have more in the store than is available online. 

Another company I really enjoyed speaking with was the Smart Owl Coffee Company located in Springfield IL. I have been on a hunt for a company that is local, cost effective, direct trade, and low acid. This company marks all the boxes and then some and as an added bonus it tastes great! We were able to sample the current seasonal blend, spiced mocha rose blend and it was so good! It tasted great and you have the additional benefits of no mold, supplements added to enhance for better health, and its organic. They have a subscription online, you can buy online, or you can go to various stores to purchase their product including Harvest Market. If you are interested in trying the product and want to buy online, they have a 20% off discount that is available as well. 

Smart Owl is woman-owned, family-run, and based in science. Another cool fact about this company is that it was started in the height of COVID in 2020. The supplements included vary depending on the type you get but all of their coffee has one common supplement, L-theanine, which is a type of tea extract that is an amino acid that is beneficial to our bodies but is not readily found in our diets. It is a cognitive enhancer which allows you to focus and be productive without the jitters and crash of typical coffee. Needless to say I stocked up on this coffee. This seasonal blend is on its way out due to it was the winter blend and a new one is in the works for the summer called the Give a Hoot Essentials Blend. It has Vanilla and Cinnamon tasting notes and $2 from every bag purchased will go to the Treehouse Wildlife Center in Dow, IL.

There were other great samples that I tried like the house made tortilla chips and salsa-YUM! The Guacamole was pretty good and I have never been a big fan of guacamole so that says a lot. I also really liked the Creekstone Kettle Works popcorn. They had so many unique flavors that you can buy like Bourbon and Brown Sugar (made special for the Springfield Harvest Market store), birthday cake, people chow, and sweet chili cheese among other more usual flavors. The samples of the Niemann Ranch Ground beef was so good and as an added bonus they run the restaurant at Harvest Market which I cannot say enough great things about. It has been my restaurant of choice lately in Springfield IL. All their beef is born and raised on pasture and are not given any artificial growth hormones. Niemann Ranch is located in Monroe City, MO. 

There were many other great products that I was able to sample, and it was great talking to the people who made the items like Kathy's Kitchen's Zesty Peach Salsa. This company is owned and operated by a couple in Virginia IL. Kathy for years entered preserved items in competition and won may times going back to the beginning in 1960. There are no artificial flavors or preserves, thickeners, extenders, or syrups. Each batch is carefully selected and prepared by hand to ensure only the best goes in each jar. It really gives you perspective when you meet the woman who tirelessly works to make such a quality product and you really can taste the difference. 

If you have not checked out Harvest Market, you should check them out. I know the first comment will be but it is expensive right. My response is that depends on how you look at it. Compared to Aldi and Walmart probably more expensive. However, you will find more local products so you can support local family run companies and get a great product. They have a great bulk section if you are looking for ways to save on packaging and some of the items are really priced well. 

Also, their produce and meat products are great! It's my favorite place to get meat and produce and if you want to try something different like Dragonfruit they have it (both in fresh and dried in the bulk section. They also have some unusual meat options like bison, elk, venison, and wild boar available. 

They also make great store made products like the salsa, guacamole, and tortilla chips mentioned earlier. As well as orange juice and fresh churned butter to name a few. 

Harvest Market has a great restaurant called the Farmhouse Restaurant. The price is very reasonable and you get a lot of food for the cost. The restaurant is farm to table with many recipes made from scratch. They use locally sourced ingredients from vendors like Niemann Ranch Beef, Little Farm on the Prairie Farm Fresh Eggs, and local milk from Kilgus Farms. They offer daily specials as well. If you haven't gone you need to try it. My personal favorite breakfast is the Columbia Street Waffle with extra bacon. They add espresso to the batter and to the butter. It's so good! They also have a great pony shoe and the pulled pork nachos are great! If you go in the evening, you can go upstairs in the bar area where they have live music scheduled and also have weekly events like trivia night and music bingo, and a comedian monthly. The music bingo is a lot of fun. Plus, the severs there are fantastic! 

Harvest Market also has various of other events like cooking videos and cooking demos with the stores in house dietician. There is also a coffee shop located at the store which I believe is one of the better ones in town personally. What makes it so good...for me it is the availability of sugar free options. When a lot of coffee shops are limiting these it seems, Harvest Market's Kaldi's Coffee seems to have more selection. Lastly, Harvest Market has meal kits available for purchase that are designed and prepared by the in house registered dietician. 

If you haven't checked them out yet you should go in and see what all they offer.