This is not your grandfather's farm. It's not Aviad Sheinfeld's grandfather's farm, either, but Wiseacre Farm is a bridge between childhood days spent on grandparents Yechezkel and Hadassah Gluzman's farm in an Israeli moshav and Sheinfeld's modern training.
"I don't know if it was a goal. I never thought about becoming a farmer. I was always good with computers, so working with computers was kind of the assumed path," said Sheinfeld, 49, of Glenview.
"I think my childhood experiences on the farm really gave me more of an ingrained appreciation for what it takes to grow food. The thing I remember most is the apple orchards and the peaches my grandparents grew, but they also grew roses and sheep, so also animals."
There are no animals, roses or peaches at Wiseacre Farm, a rectangular, 320-square-foot container farm inside a warehouse Sheinfeld rents in an industrial area in Glenview.
Wiseacre's specialty is leafy greens. A recent delivery included six heads of lettuce of differing varieties. Another package will offer the lettuce plus herbs and other greens, things like parsley, chives, Thai basil, red-veined sorrel, curly kale with chard.
"I think it's hard to understand just how much the taste disappears with travel, with chemicals, herbicides and pesticides, with just time, honestly, and sitting on a grocery store shelf," she said.
Read more at the Daily Herald (D. Oberhelman)