Green City's Quarter Century of Local Food Leadership
Our report on Saturday's 25th Anniversary ceremony
Many Reasons to Celebrate
When Green City Market opened in 1999, there were few farmers markets in Chicago, and many of them allowed vendors to sell products grown great distances away and purchased from wholesalers.
The late Abby Mandel created the market because she was an early true believer that fresh, locally produced food was healthier, tastier, and produced more sustainably than the conventional food system that achieved domination in the second half of the 20th century. Although she died in 2008, her vision has been validated by the imprint Green City has made on the local food culture, with influence extending beyond the Chicago region.
Green City played the leading local role in establishing the concept of producer-only markets, to ensure that the food sold was produced by nearby farmers. Green City was also a pacesetter in establishing the Chicago food region as extending about 200 miles from the city’s center (taking in much of the growing regions in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin).
So there was a celebratory mood during the 25th anniversary ceremony that took place Saturday (April 6) as Green City kicked off the region’s outdoor farmers market season. It was a cloudless if chilly opening day that drew 18,000 visitors, according to the market, suggesting that its record-setting attendance in the post-pandemic era is continuing unabated.
Mandy Moody, the market non-profit’s executive director, hailed how far Green City Market has come from its humble beginnings in 1999. “We opened 25 years ago with nine farmers in an alley behind the Chicago Theater,” she said. “And today we have over 60 vendors joining us this season, celebrating and connecting over half a million customers with those vendors.”
Mandy continued with her definition of the market’s purpose.
We are more than a market. We’re your organization with a mission to secure the future of food for everyone. That looks like supporting our local sustainable growers, bringing them to the market and giving them opportunity to serve and connect with our communities directly, getting the most nutritious, sustainable, delicious food into the homes of Chicagoans.
It also looks like expanding access to everyone, regardless of income or their zip code. We served over 1,500 people last year using their SNAP benefits here at the market, generating over a quarter of a million dollars of spending, and we are looking to serve even more.
Next up in the ceremony was Timmy Knudsen, who represents the Lincoln Park flagship Green City Market as the 43rd Ward Chicago alderman. “I selfishly live within a stone's throw of this market. I can't seem to leave it…,” he said. “It truly is a place I like to just walk on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I really appreciate all the work you do, all the farmers that come. So much goes into this.”
Wrapping up the speaking portion of the ceremony was Sarah Stegner of Prairie Grass Cafe in suburban Northbrook, one of several pioneering farm-to-table chefs who co-founded the market, and still a member of its Board of Directors today.
Praising Abby Mandel, Sarah said, “She used the expression ‘tipping point,’ that this was an initiation of gathering together people that were like-minded in saving our planet, in protecting our land and protecting our food source for generations to come. I was honored to be part of that team that opened Green City Market.”
Addressing the shoppers in the audience, she continued, “I think every one of you is vital to the life of our food system. We vote with our dollars, we command our presence to be about what we want to have happen in the future… The farmers are our champions, they are in the frontline, they are dealing with so many issues that come their way… You acknowledge that it matters that you talk to them. It matters that you know your farmer who is growing your food.”
Sarah was a star chef at the Ritz Carlton in downtown Chicago in the 1990s, when she won her two James Beard Foundation awards. It was during that time she became persuaded that locally grown food was superior in the culinary sense, but she was distressed that the ingredients available to her as a chef were practically impossible for home cooks to secure, as the local food ecosystem had been overrun by conventional food.
“I can make a spinach soup that is going to blow your mind. But to do that, I have to have access to that spinach,” she said. “I did this demonstration, and as I was talking about it, I looked up and I realized that you can't buy it, you don't have access. No matter how many classes you pay for, no matter how much technique you have, and whatever incredible broth you might make, you will not be able to replicate the deliciousness that I have put forward without access.” Her commitment to fostering greater consumer access to these ingredients made her a Green City Market advocate for life.
Mandy returned to the microphone to shout out four farm vendors that have been part of Green City Market since its very beginning in the Chicago Theater alley. There are Nichols Farm and Orchard (Marengo, Illinois); Mick Klug Farm (St. Joseph, Michigan); River Valley Ranch Mushrooms (Burlington, Wisconsin); and Smits Farms (Chicago Heights, Illinois).
Then there was cake.
Today there are many excellent farmers markets around the region, and as the creator of the only publication, at least in this region, that’s solely focused on the local food community, I try to hit as many of them as I can.
But I have lived just about two miles north of Green City’s Lincoln Park location since Barb and I moved here in 2011. Green City has been my local market all of those years, and it was the first place that this new kid in town learned how open and welcoming and friendly this local food community is. For that, I am grateful.
Food Safety is Crucial Part of Healthy Eating
When the topic of food and health comes up, the discussion usually focuses on eating a balanced diet filled with vital nutrients. But there is another important part of food and health, and that is safe food handling, the topic of this week’s installment of the series on healthy and affordable eating from University of Illinois Extension and UI Health.
Bianca Bautista, who produces this series as part of UI Extension’s Eat.Move.Save. program, provides important information about safe food handling and storage, plus a quiz on where food should be stored in the fridge.
The debut of Local Food Forum’s “Better” Dialogues webinar series takes place on Zoom on Monday, April 15 at 7 p.m. central.
Co-hosted by Local Food Forum’s Bob Benenson and Chef Sarah Stegner of Prairie Grass Cafe, there will be an informative and engaging conversation on the hot topic of regenerative agriculture with guest experts Greg Wade of Publican Quality Bread (Chicago and Oak Park); Marty Travis, longtime sustainable farming leader at Spence Farm and Down at the Farms (Fairbury); and Tim Brown, organic produce and chicken farmer at Broadview Farm & Gardens (Marengo).
Registration for episode 1 of the series is free for all. Click below to reserve your spot.