Big News: Prairie Food Co-op Sets July 9 Opening Date in Lombard
Third Regional Food Co-op Opening Since May 2024 Was 13 Years in Making
In big news for better food advocates in Chicago's western suburbs — and for fans of food cooperatives in general — there is now a summer opening date for Prairie Food Co-op Community Grocery in Lombard.
The community-owned store, located at 837 S. Westmore-Meyers Rd. in Lombard's Eastgate Shopping Center, will open its doors on Wednesday, July 9. After a long lull, this will be the third food co-op opening in the Chicago region in 14 months, following Food Shed Co-op in Woodstock in May 2024 and Wild Onion Market in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood last June.
The news was a long time — 13 years — in coming. This Local Food Forum article tells why it’s so difficult to open a co-op grocery, and has a link to the market’s announcement video.
Advocate Wants to Turn Peotone Airport Site Into Regenerative Center
Bob Heuer Explains His Concept in This Contributed Article
Bob Heuer is a longtime advocate of a better, more local food system. His HNA Networks, based in Evanston just outside Chicago, helps agri-food, nutrition & conservation organizations find success in America's regional economies.
An opponent of a long-stymied but persistent proposal to build a third Chicago-area airport in Peotone, a farm community about 40 miles south of downtown Chicago, Bob is launching a campaign to block the plan — and replace it with a Regenerative Agriculture Research and Development Center.
He contributed this article about his concept to Local Food Forum, in which he explains why the airport plan should be dumped and why Peotone is a great location for the research center — and he invites you to join a May 8 webinar on the topic.
Spring at North Pond: Refuge in the City Comes to Life Again
Its Beauty is Already Bursting, with Baby Waterfowl Coming Soon
If this headline and photo looks familiar to you, then you were paying close attention to the last Local Food Forum newsletter. I posted a photo essay of spring blooming at Chicago’s North Pond, and somehow forgot to include the link.
I’d really love for you to browse the pretty pictures, so I’m giving myself a mulligan.