We're Lauren, Corrie, and Elise. With our mom DeAnn, we run Farm Family Foods together. We grew up connected to the land through our grandparents' 80-acre farm just outside Benson, which had produced corn and soybeans for decades. We loved that land, but we always had a question in the back of our minds. What if we could grow food that we could actually eat and feed to real people?

In 2021, we took over the farm and started converting part of it to grow fresh produce like potatoes, carrots, beets, and asparagus. Our farm, 19x1950 Family Farm, is named for the corner of County Road 1900 East and 1950 North where it sits in Woodford County. We started selling to restaurants in Chicago and St. Louis, and we enjoyed being part of the farm-to-table movement. But that's not why we got into this.

We started talking with other local farmers and came up with an idea. What if we collaborated on something that actually served the communities here? What if we grew food to feed the people on the richest farmland in the world? Let's feed our people first.

For years, Benson didn't have a grocery store. No Casey's, no Dollar General, not even a farmers' market. Nearby towns like Roanoke were losing their stores too. For a lot of our neighbors, getting groceries meant a 40-minute drive each way, every week. That felt almost unfair. There had to be a better way. Now there is.

When a building in Benson came up at auction in 2022, we took the leap. It had been a grocery store decades ago, and we knew it could be one again. We purchased it from Woodford County for just under $2,000 and started renovating. Nearly three years, well over $100,000, and a whole lot of bootstrapping later, we opened our doors on June 27, 2025.

At the baseline of everything we do, we wanted to be a local, community-first store. That's what guides the decisions we make. It's how we think about the products on our shelves, the farmers we partner with, and every dollar that comes through our door.

We've done the research. Every dollar spent at a small business like ours has an economic benefit to the community to the tune of $1.90, because of how that dollar circulates locally. When you shop at a big-box store outside your community, only 11 cents of your dollar even benefits that community directly. That matters to us.

We work with hundreds of farmers and producers across central Illinois and beyond, and we're always welcoming new partners. You don't have to be a big producer to sell with us. We count our own farm very much as a small producer, and we know firsthand how important these relationships are.

Our store has many of the things you'd expect at a modern grocery. Dry and canned goods. Bulk grains and beans. Dairy from Kilgus Farms in Fairbury. Frozen meats, fresh produce, soaps, detergents, and paper products. We even have cold soda pop, candy, and take-and-bake goods. We source as locally as we can, and when we can't find something locally, we look for partners who share our values, like San Gabriel Ranch in California, a small family-run orchard that grows citrus.

We're also picky about the products we carry. The tissues on our shelves are made of bamboo. The toilet paper is recycled. Small choices that add up.

We've got doctors, nurse practitioners, and nurses in our area who are recommending their patients buy groceries from us because they know it's better for their health. That kind of trust means everything.

Every week we hear from people in other small towns asking when we can bring this to them. Toluca. Minonk. El Paso. That tells us this isn't just our dream. It's something rural communities across Illinois are hungry for.

That's kind of our ethos. We want to make a difference in our community. We're not here to get rich. We don't have a super yacht, and we don't expect to have one. We'd rather spend our time improving the lives of everyone around us.

We're open Wednesday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturdays 8 a.m. to noon. We're also open 7 a.m. to noon every third Sunday of the month. You can find us at 311 Front Street in Benson, or order online at farmfamilyfoods.com.

We built this believing local food systems matter. Come be part of it.