A melding of ecology, botany, agriculture, community food systems, and cooking, Berries and Flour uses many uncommon plant crops in our products, some from local farms, fields, and forests. Each of these Midwest plants has its own story to tell!
By teaching how to recognize, harvest, process, grow, and consume more traditional, regional foods, we encourage folks to eat closer to home. This practice is ever so important considering many of the economic, social, and environmental issues we face today.
We readily collaborate with many individuals and organizations toward food accessibility and justice. We do cooking demos, give edible gardening lectures and foraging workshops. Our predominant “store front” is made up of local farmers markets, and our products can be found in our farm store and in regional stores.
Our wholesale commercial kitchen, permitted by IL Department of Public Health, enables us to produce our own value-added products, but also allows Berries and Flour to operate as a small-scale fruit and vegetable processing facility, and offer kitchen rental for other micro food operations. These activities contribute much-needed components of a strong local food system in Central Illinois!
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Thank you for your patronage and support of regional foods and growers!
-Heidi Leuszler (Owner/Head Chef)
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We are a very small business, so we need 8 days to process, schedule, and make your order. We may be able to make things sooner, but please communicate with us before you place an order.
Our webpage is under construction! Apologies for the inconvenience.
Please email berriesandflour@gmail.com for more information!
COTTAGE OPERATION
The Illinois Cottage Law was written to allow small vendors the opportunity to make goods in home kitchens, and sell at farmer's markets while still allowing public health to monitor the operations. All Cottage Operations should be registered with CU Department of Public Health and will be listed on their website.
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2018 brought some exciting changes to the law, allowing more products to be made and sold. You can read all about the law here. Cottage Food Guide
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All bakery goods are made in our home kitchen, with staff who has been certified in safe food handling exactly as restaurant chefs and workers have been. Certain ingredients or preparations are not allowed to be made or sold by Cottage Operations: for example, fresh cut fruit and dairy products will never be on our cakes (but can be baked into them!).
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