Gardening guru Jim Fizzell talks zucchini, seed harvesting, perennial dividing and more things that need to be done right now.

“We’re halfway through… Spring of ’26,” is how Nilda Esparza describes the reconstruction of Milwaukee Avenue from Belmont Avenue to Logan Square. Esparza is the Executive Producer for the Logan Square Chamber of Commerce. She tells WGN’s Steve Alexander in the audio clip above that the end result will be beautiful. In the interim, though, many of the local businesses that rely on foot traffic are suffering because of the construction and street closures. So, the Chamber is hosting a restaurant and bar crawl on Sunday, August 10, from 1 to 5 pm. Esparza says 21 restaurants are taking part: Andros Taverna, Blazed Bakery, Cafe con Leche, Central Park Bar, Deep Red Wine Merchant, El Cid, Federales Logan Square (which is donating the trolley that will move people around, including to and from the nearby Logan Square Farmers Market), Friendship Chinese Restaurant, Hopewell Brewery, K-Fire Korean BBQ, Kie-Gol-Lanee, La Lunita, Mother’s Ruin, Pure Green, South Loop Market, Spicy Taco, Taco Maya, The Crab Pad, The Harding Tavern, The Whale, and Uprising Theater and Cafe. More information about tickets HERE.

ILLINOIS STATE FAIR RUNS AUGUST 7-17th

Meanwhile, “Adventure Awaits” in Springfield at the Illinois State Fair. In the audio clip above, State Fair Manager Rebecca Clark tells Alexander there are more than 165 hours of free entertainment, plus several hours of grandstand shows featuring some of the biggest names in music. But “at the heart of everything we do is agriculture.” And fair officials have stretched that a little, maybe a lot, with the introduction of the first Illinois State Fair Pickle Ball Tournament. “This is a really big dill, at the Dillinois State Fair.” She says there’s a round-robin doubles tournament with adults and juniors divisions. And for people who don’t play, but are curious, she says there will be demonstration court. No equipment necessary, just maybe some comfortable shoes. More information HERE. And CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE 2025 ILLINOIS STATE FAIR BUTTER COW WEB CAM

When Idina Menzel sang “Let it Go,” she probably didn’t have Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. in mind, but those lyrics are the essence of the Health and Human Services Secretary’s suggestion for dealing with the bird flu.

In the audio clip above, Johns Hopkins University researcher Erin Sorrell tells WGN’s Steve Alexander that after hearing of the Secretary’s suggestion, she and four other scientists composed a response, which was published in the July issue of the journal Science. Sorrell says the suggestion of letting the virus spread has no merit, and would be dangerous and unethical, potentially leading to transmission to other species, including humans, and threatening a pandemic. Instead, she says, “We really need to consider how we come together from a one-health perspective, that we incorporate human health, animal health, and environmental health to increase active surveillance, active detection. While cases have been decreasing as migratory birds are essentially out of North America right now, we have the time to regroup, restructure, and be ready for the fall migration.”

Yes, it’s possible we could have a fourth consecutive year of bird flu as the migratory birds–chief spreaders of the virus–return.

Below is the abstract of the article published in the July edition of the journal Science:

As of 20 May, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has confirmed highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in more than 173.1 million birds since the outbreak began in January 2022. The secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services, Robert Kennedy Jr., has suggested allowing the unmitigated spread of HPAI in turkeys and chickens to identify surviving birds—a sentiment supported by Brooke Rollins, secretary of the USDA, which, along with state-level departments of agriculture, has jurisdiction over animal disease outbreaks (1). This approach would be dangerous and unethical. Allowing a highly lethal, rapidly evolving, and contagious virus to run a natural course of infection in poultry would lead to unnecessary suffering of poultry and put other susceptible animals on and near affected farms at risk. It would prolong exposure for farmworkers, which could increase viral adaptation and transmission risks for poultry, other peridomestic animals, and humans.

The Business of Food with Steve Alexander is heard Mondays and Fridays at 7:38 a.m. and 12:45 p.m., and Tuesdays-Thursdays at 6:38 a.m. and 12:45 p.m.

Click above to hear the radio edit. Click below to hear the longer version.

Is bacon an ultra-processed food? Some people would say yes, but Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has stated that when he does eat breakfast–he typically skips breakfast as part of intermittent fasting–but when he does, he likes bacon with his eggs. But chips, sodas, packaged breads, chicken nuggets (which Kennedy has called ‘poison’) and a wide variety of other foods Americans eat daily may make the government’s list of ultra-processed foods that Kennedy would like to see limited or eliminated.

In the audio clips above, Helena Bottemiller Evich, founder and editor-in-chief of FoodFix and who previously led food coverage at Politico, tells WGN’s Steve Alexander about the government’s efforts to define UPFs. “There’s a big debate about how to define these. Maybe some ultra-processed foods are good for us but there’s a lot of research that shows the higher consumption of ultra-processed foods associates with poor health outcomes like diabetes and heart disease.” She adds that the government’s updated dietary guidelines coming out this fall will likely tell Americans to consume less UPFs.

The food industry is paying close attention and its D.C. lobbyists are no doubt busy trying to get their opinions heard by the decision makers because, in Illinois alone, where many of the biggest food processors are located, thousands of jobs and billions of dollars may be at stake.

“That’s why everyone is watching this so closely. They’re trying to figure out what the government is going to do and how to prepare for it. We are in a Republican administration. Usually, Republican administrations don’t like to regulate, they try to be more deregulatory, and so we’re waiting to see what Make Ameriica Healthy Again, what this movement looks like in a Republican administration. What we are seeing is the states [being] pretty aggressive [against UPFs]. Texas has a warning label law that would actually require certain foods that contain additives to have a front-of-pack warning on them. We’re seeing West Virginia ban all synthetic food dyes as of 2028. The food companies are, in particular, watching what the states are doing because it’s a lot harder to control what happens and now we’re seeing this patchwork [of standards] get created, and there are economic impacts to that, no question.”

You can read more about Helena Bottemiller Evich’s reporting on food and the food industry at FoodFix.co. “You can get on my email list, I have a weekly newsletter. I have a lot of food policy insiders and industry people and, also, a lot of consumers.”

Meanwhile, MAHA is making life uncertain for American corn growers

Nearly every segment of our food industry is watching to see whether their interests are going to be compromised by MAHA. Even Midwest corn growers feel they may be in the crosshairs of the Make America Healthy Again initiative. The following is a release from the Illinois Corn Growers Association and the National Corn Growers Association:

In a new survey, American corn growers say they would face higher costs and reductions in crop yields if they were to lose access to key herbicides like atrazine and glyphosate. The survey comes after the Make America Healthy Again Commission released its preliminary report questioning the safety of the two herbicides.

The survey findings reveal high stakes for the MAHA Commission’s next report, a set of policy recommendations expected to be released in August, which could impact a key constituency in President Trump’s base. The crop protection tools in question have been thoroughly tested by the Environmental Protection Agency and other regulatory bodies and shown to be safe for their intended uses.

“These results are in line with what I am hearing in conversations among farmers,” said Illinois farmer and National Corn Growers Association President Kenneth Hartman Jr. “We are concerned that claims about herbicides in the pending MAHA recommendations could remove access to the tools we need to safely and sustainably produce a crop.”

Hartman added that growers hope the president will intervene and ensure that the MAHA Commission follows the science and defers to the EPA on matters related to pesticide policy and regulation.

The survey, which was sponsored by NCGA, included responses from more than 1,000 farmers and was conducted between June 17 and July 2, following the release of MAHA’s initial assessment, which mentioned glyphosate and atrazine.

Respondents indicated overwhelmingly – 85% – that weeds are the top pest plaguing their crops and that atrazine and glyphosate were their top two herbicides of choice.

The MAHA Commission, a priority of Health and Human Service Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was formed in February through a presidential executive order. The commission released its initial assessment in May. That assessment was challenged by corn grower leaders for questioning decades of science proving glyphosate and atrazine to be safe and effective.

NCGA has spent months sounding the alarms about the MAHA Commission’s focus on herbicides. The group has said that if the pesticides in the initial assessment were to disappear completely, crop yields could decrease by more than 70% due to pests, weeds and disease.

Herbicides and pesticides, including glyphosate and atrazine have been tested extensively. Before these products are approved for use, companies must submit dozens, if not hundreds, of test results for EPA review and consideration, including tests examining potential effects on child development, dietary exposure, and long-term toxicity. The EPA’s reviews, required by law, are repeated at least every 15 years, or sooner if new data becomes available.

“Given that the EPA’s robust regulatory process has found these products to be safe when used according to label directions, there is no reason to suggest that they are harmful,” Hartman noted. “Doing so will come at a great cost to farmers and rural America.”

The Business of Food can be heard on Mondays and Fridays at 7:38 a.m. and 12:45 p.m., and at 6:38 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. on WGN Radio.

Push play for the radio edit above. The extended version is below.

Many Chicagoans remember Emily Hurd. She, her voice and her piano, with occasional accompaniment, played many Chicago clubs: Space, Schubas, Martyrs, and the Old Town School of Music, among them. She played elsewhere nationally and internationally, too, getting rave reviews. How about this praise from the New York Times?

“She sits at the piano, lips to microphone, boot to pedal, and speaks her mind — in song. I became an instant fan.” ––Val Haller,   New York Times

She is a prolific songwriter — now finishing her 20th album — combining soul, folk, blues, and rock, and her songs have been finalists in several international songwriting competitions. Paul Zollo of American Songwriter says that she writes “albums to fall into and swim in forever.” Her songs have been featured on television’s NCIS, 90210, The Good Wife, Melrose Place, and Life Unexpected.

Her music career was going great.

But her life changed in 2013. Her dad died unexpectedly of a heart attack. Emily, an only child raised in Rockford, decided to pack up and move home to be closer to her mother. And then, as she tells WGN’s Steve Alexander in the audio clips above, “I thought I would do something really crazy with my grief energy.” She bought a 100-year old building in an area of Rockford that didn’t have much else going on and decided to turn it into a restaurant which would be a community gathering place and music venue.

Even though she loves working with her hands, working with wood, the old building became somewhat of a money pit. As she was pulling up flooring, she hit asbestos. An abatement company said it would cost nearly $100,000 to clean it up. Emily didn’t have the money so she did what musicians have done for eons: She did a Kickstarter campaign, offering various rewards for different levels of donations. It worked. The community covered not only the cost of the asbestos but a little extra.

The community also pitched in physically when they saw the dumpster out front filling up with debris from the renovation, which Emily was doing while she was pregnant. Not recommended, she adds.

The rebirth of the building took some three years, but the end result is a beautiful, wood-dominated interior (much of it repurposed) with a small stage where local artists regularly play.

As she explains in the extended version audio clip above, the restaurant became something far different than what she had intended. Instead of just being an outlet for her grief, it became what the community and her team, now numbering 32, needed.

Which, it turns out, is what she needed.

“The place is running on generosity and the generosity makes you feel like it’s all just magically happening all the time.”

Something else happened to Emily during all this. She married and now has two children.

By the way, the name, The Norwegian? Emily did her Ancestry.com and found she is Swedish, but zero percent Norwegian. “I just wanted it to be ‘The Something,'” and with her husband, Mark Christensen, being Norwegian, “The Norwegian just kind of stuck.” To earn some Norse cred, Emily took lessons in Minnesota on how to make lefse. How about lutefisk? Yes, but just once a year during a big winter carnival in the parking lot where, among the activities, there’s a herring toss. Seriously.

It’s all happening at The Norwegian in Rockford, where Emily continues to make music. Oh, and about her mother? “She’s here all the time. We’re always asking her, ‘Mom, we ran out of herring, can you run?’ You know, it really never ends, even though you’ve hit adulthood yourself.”

The Norwegian, at 1402 North Main Street in Rockford, is open 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday, with dinner served from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday .

The Business of Food with Steve Alexander is heard at 7:38 am on Monday and Friday, 6:38 am on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and at 12:45 pm each weekday on WGN Radio.

Radio edit above, full-length interview below.

When you’re starting a business, it’s wise to pay attention to others’ opinions. Zach Rash and Brad Squicciarini were studying robotics at UCLA and developed the concept for a more efficient, economical, and environmentally friendly way of delivering food: a robot, or more to the point, a robocourier. Rather than continue to grad school, they decided to start a company. They named it Cyan, like the color, and if not for the advice of an investor, that’s the name they would have given to their robots. “He said that’s the worst name I’ve ever heard, so we looked up cute dog names and Coco was at the top of the list. It was about a 10-second process.”

In 2020, they rolled out Coco, which is a pinkish-reddish (cyan!) insulated cube on wheels that weighs about 100 pounds and can carry several large pizzas or four bags of groceries, or a combination of both. It can carry hot or cold food, or both. Deliveries began in parts of Los Angeles, where the weather is nearly always nice. As he tells WGN’s Steve Alexander in the audio clips above, in December of 2024, they added snow tires, all-wheel drive, and other adjustments to see if Coco could navigate the often icy and snow-clogged sidewalks of Chicago, not to mention the freezing temperatures that limit battery life. It did, and as of this writing, there are about a hundred Coco robots roaming the streets of Chicago.

“The core technology we’ve developed is this ultra-low cost vehicle, it’s compact, it’s lightweight, it’s super-safe, it’s energy efficient, it works really well in these dense urban environments like Chicago where there can be a lot of traffic and it’s difficult to find parking,” said Rash. “So, it’s designed to be the best autonomous vehicle to move goods around these cities, and that’s all powered by a self-driving A.I. technology.” He says Coco uses a combination of five cameras; front, rear, left, and right cameras with LiDAR for 360-degree perception, essential for autonomous navigation. Cameras provide visual detail like signs and lane markings, while LiDAR delivers accurate depth sensing. Together, he says, they create a real-time 3D view of the environment, allowing safe path planning, obstacle avoidance, and reliable operation in complex urban settings.

But even with all their A.I. and cameras, the robots can get bogged down. That’s where humans come in. “We have drivers who work remotely and can oversee the fleet and step in when the robots are having trouble making a decision.” Rash adds, “You know you can think about it going down the sidewalk autonomously, it can cross the basic intersection autonomously, but then you have a lot of different situations where you have snow all over the ground, the traffic light’s out, it’s gridlock traffic, or there’s a construction zone. The system won’t know what to do itself, it can ask for help, and our human operators (who may be thousands of miles away) are trained on how to handle those scenarios.”

Rash says the robots complement, not replace human delivery drivers. “When it’s freezing cold, snow all over the ground and it might be miserable to be outside and be a delivery courier, those are also the same times people want to order food or groceries the most. They don’t want to leave their house, they want things brought to them, but it’s hard to get drivers on the road during those times. So robots can provide a really helpful service to people in the most extreme weather conditions.” Even in good weather, some restaurants have trouble getting enough drivers.

Most of the food delivered by Coco is pizza. “It’s about 70% hot prepared food, and 30% groceries,” says Rash. To order food delivered by Coco, a customer uses the restaurant’s app or delivery apps DoorDash or Uber, places the order. The restaurant places the food in Coco’s box, punches in a code to lock it, and Coco takes off to its destination. Customers can track the robot on their phones, much like we do with ride-share cars, and are notified when Coco arrives. They punch in a code and the lid opens. Rash says the deliveries take at most 15 minutes, and Coco makes no stops along the way.

Any problems with thieves? Rash says no. He says it would take special tools to get into the locked Coco food compartment, and at 100 pounds, it would be difficult to haul away. There are cameras all over it and alarms and pre-recorded warnings and messages the remote drivers can activate. Plus, he says, “People generally understand that it’s transporting food from a local business to a family for dinner. People treat them with a lot more respect than you might have seen with some other devices.” He may be referring to the EV rental scooters, which are often dumped willy-nilly after their use, blocking Chicago’s sidewalks. Those, too, along with tree roots and broken concrete and other impediments that make just walking on the sidewalks difficult, present a challenge to Coco’s mobility, but Rash says the system keeps track of such things and Coco, in its A.I. way, knows how to avoid them.

The Business of Food with Steve Alexander can be heard Mondays and Fridays at 7:38 am and 12:45 p.m., and Tuesdays-Thursdays at 6:38 am and 12:45 p.m. on WGN Radio.

Radio edit above. Extended interview below.

Chicago is a restaurant city, one of the world’s best, and at the top of the list of Windy City restaurateurs is Alex Dana. In 1973, he opened his first restaurant on the corner of Washington and Wacker in the heart of the Loop. It was across from the Opera House, and his recipes won the hearts and palettes of opera fans and performers. A year later, he began building what would become the first of the Rosebud Restaurant Group.

Located on Taylor Street in Chicago’s Little Italy, it was originally named Bocciola della Rose (Bud of the Rose). Wisely, he changed the name to Rosebud, which opened in 1976 and it quickly became known for its delicious, authentic, Italian cuisine and as a hot spot for celebrity sightings. In the audio clips above, Dana tells WGN’s Steve Alexander about late night visits from Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., and others after they performed, and he talks about his special friendship with Tony Bennett. More contemporary stars became fans, including Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, and Oprah Winfrey. Rosebud on Taylor St. is where Rosebud traditions were born 51 years ago and it remains open today.

Over the decades, the Rosebud Restaurant Group expanded to include Rosebud on Rush (1992), Carmine’s on Rush (1995) which opened as Carmine’s Clamhouse. “Actually, that was a laundromat, then El Cerrito came and put an addition on the top and made it a restaurant. Carmine’s, with its patio dining, became one of “the” spots in Chicago to see and be seen. “What made us there was the outdoor seating. That’s what that street’s known for. That outdoor, in the evenings, people wanted to hang out” and people watch. In 2023, Dana decided the old building had given as much as it could, and he leveled it and built a brand-new Carmine’s, which is opening this summer. There will not be sidewalk seating. Instead, there will be a second-floor outdoor terrace/patio that will be outstanding. It seats 100-125 people and you overlook Rush Street and everything, and you feel so comfortable and safe up there. You’re not on the street, but yet, you’re there, you know? And at 10 o’clock, the police close up the sidewalk seating, but we’ll be able to stay open (with our outdoor seating) till two in the morning.”

Another Carmine’s opened in Rosemont, with more Rosebuds added in Deerfield, Lemont, and Naperville, and Rosetta Italian in Chicago’s Theater District, and Mia Rosebud in Boca Raton, Florida.

Dana tells Alexander the key to success and longevity in a very difficult business is passion. “I love what I do. I love what I do. And my father and mother loved what they did. They were great restaurateurs because they worked hard, like I do. We’re back-of-the-house people. I’m in the culinary world. Management is beautiful with the guests and waiters and all of the people who take care of the customers, but I still like being on top of the red sauce and making sure it’s what people want everyday.”

Labor–finding and keeping good workers–has been an issue for the restaurant industry. “But you know what?” asks Dana. “If you make the people feel like they’ve got a home, and they’re happy, and you pay them well, it’s good.” He concedes that it isn’t a business for everyone and is hard on families. Six-day weeks, and the notion of spending weekends with your spouse and children like people in other industries do? “You don’t do that in this business. Friday, Saturday, Sunday, where are you at? Saturday night at five o’clock, you know what that’s called? Showtime, here they come!”

One of Dana’s tenets is: “You can’t look back if you want to move ahead.” That may have propelled him over the past half-century, but you can’t blame the guy for revisiting some of the many memories he has assembled in an iconic career.

Even though he did skydive recently, it’s hard to imagine what WGN legend and meteorologist emeritus Tom Skilling could have in common with Superman. In the audio clip above, WGN’s entertainment reporter Dean Richards, in his regular 8:10 a.m. segment with Bob Sirott, mentions the name of the actor playing Superman in the new movie: David Corenswet. It’s pronounced “corn sweat.” WGN’s Steve Alexander, with the help of Chicago’s very own Superman, takes the story from there.

The Business of Food can be heard on WGN Radio Monday-Friday at 12:45 during the Wintrust Business Lunch with John Williams, and during The Bob Sirott Show Mondays and Fridays at 7:38 am, and Tuesday-Thursday at 6:38 am.

In the audio clip above, famed Chicago-grown chef Joe Flamm tells WGN’s Steve Alexander about his participation in the recent Taste of the Nation for No Kid Hungry event where more than 500 people got together to have fun and donate money to tackle food insecurity in Chicago. The sold-out event was at Rockwell on the River, hosted by Flamm and Diana Davila, the Chef/Owner of Mi Tocaya Antojeria. Fifty of Chicago’s top eateries brought out their celebrated chefs and mixologists to support No Kid Hungry’s work. (Missed it? You can still donate at the website.)

Flamm has been involved in No Kid Hungry for several years and tells Alexander about going to Chicago schools where No Kid Hungry donations pay for kids’ breakfasts. He says each dollar donated provides up to 10 meals for kids in need, and across the country one in five children are living with hunger. In addition to Flamm, fellow Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard cooked and Michelin Star restaurants such as Sepia and Galit, and multiple James Beard Award winners and finalists were there to serve the crowd.

Flamm also tells Alexander how he got into the restaurant business as a teenager, and what the business is like right now in Chicago.

“Hold my beer!” has become a popular comeback to try to “out do” another person’s story. But in the audio clip above, researcher Jennifer Hoponick Redmon at RTI International tells WGN’s Steve Alexander that PFAS, so-called “forever chemicals” because they last forever and are nearly everywhere, including our blood.

PFAS are human-made chemicals discovered nearly 100 years ago by accident. They became widely used because of their water-, oil- and stain-repellent properties. Over the decades, they have have been found in surface water, groundwater and municipal water supplies across the U.S. and the world. Hoponick Redmon and her team wondered if there are PFAS in our beer, too. Yes, they are.

Hoponick Redmon and her colleagues tested 23 beers. The test subjects were produced by U.S. brewers in areas with documented water system contamination, plus popular domestic and international beers from larger companies with unknown water sources. They found PFAS in 95% of the beers they tested.

Although breweries typically have water filtration and treatment systems, they are not designed to remove PFAS. It is possible to filter out the bad stuff through techniques such as reverse osmosis and activated carbon, but she says that is expensive and there’s debate about who would bear the brunt of those costs.

There’s a health cost. Recent studies show that PFAS exposure can lead to adverse reproductive, developmental, cardiovascular, liver, kidney, immunological, and carcinogenic health effects. And, the PFAS can remain in the body for years. Ironically, beer has been a staple beverage since premodern times, when it was actually considered safer than water given the destruction of waterborne pathogens during brewing. Today, beer is the third most popular beverage around the world, behind only water and tea.

If you’re a brewer–and it doesn’t matter how big or small you are, PFAS are a problem for all–RTI International is offering help on its website. If you’re wondering about your tap water, you can contact your state’s Department of Public Health.