Urban

Yatte Moore discovered two passions and talents in the past two years that he didn't know he possessed: farming and filmmaking. Yatte's brother Desmond Moore was working with Angelic Organics Learning Center at Blackhawk Courts Farm & Gardens and got his older brother involved. Farming wasn't easy work, but Yatte found that he was good at it. "It made me a man," Yatte explains of working on the farm.

He discovered he possessed another talent when he enrolled in Make Moving Pictures Film School, a project sponsored by Rockford Housing Authority (RHA), Community Foundation of Northern Illinois,...

On Valentine’s Day 2015, a happy crowd gathered at the Chicago High School for Agriculture Sciences for the 3rd annual Urban Livestock Expo. Sponsored by Angelic Organics Learning Center with partners Advocates for Urban Agriculture (AUA) and the Chicagoland Chicken Enthusiasts, the Expo offered visitors intensive sessions on raising chickens, ducks, goats, rabbits, quails, honeybees, and solitary bees in their backyards.

- Presenter Abe Lentner’s daughter Lucy showed off her ribbon-winning ducks.
- Ryan Detwiler shared his enthusiasm for Coturnix quails (which he and husband Corey Gilson call “kitchen chickens”) while Corey greeted visitors eager...

Locally grown produce and agriculture has seen a recent surge in popularity. Consumers enjoy a fresh, sustainable, and often organic product that supports their local communities. This demand for local food has encouraged more young people to take up farming as a career. One of these farmers, Jessica Rinks of Purple Leaf Farms, will be recognized with the 3rd annual Beginning Farmer of the Year Award at the opening symposium of the Good Food Festival & Conference on Friday, March 20, 10:15 AM at Chicago’s UIC Forum.

We’re excited to announce the Young Professionals Association, or YPA, a new network that will help us build the local food system. The YPA is a group of energetic, young-at-heart professionals in their twenties and thirties who support the mission and programs of the Learning Center. YPA members work together to broaden the Learning Center outreach through the young professional community and raise funds to support Angelic Organics Learning Center.

On September 20 and 21, the Learning Center and Chicagoland Chicken Enthusiasts held our 5th Annual Windy City Coop Tour. Between periodic showers, 29 hosts reported good traffic during the 4-hour windows that they were open for tour visitors, with an estimate of 350 at all sites. 16 Hosts were new to the tour, while the others had hosted at least one previous year – and 3 hosts have participated each of the 5 years of the tour! During that time, 70 hosts in at least 26 wards of Chicago and 5 neighboring communities have opened their yards to the...