Health-conscience people today who shun junk foods and pesticide-laden produce and meat products do not always have a lot of choices to help them eat better. But help is on the way.

Deborah Smith of Warrenville not only has been aware of the correct eating choices for her and family, she has taken her wealth of knowledge, along with that of her husband, Phil Shields, to operate 17-acre Country Cottage Farms located in the town of Fisher, 20 minutes north of Champaign.

Family-owned and operated, all food is grown with natural fertilizers, and the farm includes free-range poultry and pasture-raised lamb, all helping to deliver a sense of healthy, safe eating which is fresh and delicious.

You may remember seeing Smith in the small storefront space at Batavia and Warrenville Road a few summers ago, selling fresh produce and poultry. Those who shopped there and returned obviously tasted the difference and wanted additional flavorful eating choices. The free-range chickens were delicious and distinctly different from grocery store, processed poultry. Fresh vegetables grown from organic seeds were plentiful and tasty.

“Phil has done conventional farming for over 30 years, and we wanted to provide another healthy option and a good service for the community, so we decided to start the organic farming about three years ago,” Smith said.

The couple attended conferences at the University of Illinois on the healthy aspects of organic farming, had farming experience and always raised their children with healthy eating habits, so it was a natural next step to provide the service on a larger scale.

Smith always has been conscientious about eating healthy, so it’s no surprise that her college-aged daughter, Phoebe, was raised eating good, nutritious food.

“Phoebe wasn’t raised drinking pop and doesn’t miss it,” Smith said. “Pop and other foods just create troubles including behavioral problems that could be avoided by eliminating those types of foods.”

Smith also is a licensed and accredited daycare provider who serves the children nutritional meals that go “above and beyond” what is even required by the state of Illinois. Food choices are nutritionally sound and always healthy; no junk food or pop is offered.

Smith keeps busy with her daycare business Monday through Friday and also is responsible for product invoicing and taking weekly trips to the farm to check on the animals, complete chores and inventory, and oversee the full-time help at the farm.

The couple sells their products at Chicago’s Green City Market, located at the south end of Lincoln Park Zoo from May 16 until December. When the weather turns cold, they move into the nearby Peggy Notebaert Museum. The fresh foods also are available at Chicago’s True Nature Foods on North Broadway. Restaurants such as Chicago 312 and Bin 36, where the chefs believe in serving fresh, organically produced foods, also purchase their products.

Pesticide- and chemical-free fresh vegetables also are grown at the farm, including asparagus, sugar snap peas, spring mix lettuce, spinach, green beans and zucchini. Fresh brown eggs and the delightful pastel-colored “Araucana eggs,” named after the Arauca Indians in Central Chile who first bred them, also are available.

For additional information, check the Web site at www.countrycottagefarms.com or call (630) 408-2796.