Eat Local and Sustainable in Chicago : A Beginners Guide
A How-To Guide for Upping Your Sustainability and Local Food Game in Chicago
The Climate Crisis is looming.
If we are going to consume at the current rate, we need to be moving towards sustainable production. We have 10 years, give or take, to turn our act around before global climate disaster.
The Brundtland report was written for the World Commission on Environment and Development. In it, sustainable development is defined as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations. Gro Brundtland, who wrote that, also wrote, “In the face of an absolutely unprecedented emergency, society has no choice but to take dramatic action to avert a collapse of civilization. Either we will change our ways and build an entirely new kind of global society, or they will be changed for us.”
Global, large scale agriculture produces about a third of global emissions, creates issues with both overconsumption and undernutrition, and increases wealth inequality, by taking money out of communities who need it.
We need to reform our local food economies to practice sustainable eating.
Here’s a step by step guide for eating sustainable in Chicago, starting at the least sustainable way to eat, and ending at the most sustainable food consumption options in the city.
Global Chain Supermarkets
Environmentally, processed food from global chain supermarkets is the worst way to work towards sustainability. They produce agricultural and packaging waste, are feeding into the wealth gap and are underserving communities because they lack access to affordable, healthy food options. However, these are often the only supermarkets that serve traditionally disenfranchised communities. They are bad for the environment — there’s no doubting that. But, if it’s the only supermarket in the area, and that’s what you can feasibly afford, it’s fair and understandable.
If you’re trying to be sustainable at a global chain supermarket, try to pick the ugliest produce on the rack. According to “Wasted”, an Issue Paper produced by the National Resource Defense Council, grocery store managers view high quantities of wasted food as a way to ensure that shelves are fully stocked and free of ‘uglies’. By choosing this produce, you can challenge the assumption that customers just won’t buy produce with a little bump or bruise.
Chicago will continue to work to get its population better healthy food access, and is already doing so with the Link Match program, which subsidizes healthy food for low income earners. Until then, try to find the ugliest produce possible, wherever you can afford it.
Buying from Local Grocers
Buying from local supermarkets retains some of the benefits of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and Farmers Markets while also adding to the ease of access for consumers. Markets, which are open during the normal supermarket times make it easier for many clientele to shop at the market, but does not contribute as much to the global inequity of large-scale supermarkets. Although not all local grocers buy local or organic, many do, and have better labelled products.
- Local Foods Supermarket attempts to integrate the farmers market with the supermarket approach by connecting local growers to the Chicago market with a brick and mortar store in Wicker Park.
- Green Grocer Chicago — Best local green grocer on the west side, providing plenty of vegan and gluten free options.
CSA
Community Supported Agriculture is a model in place on farms across the United States. The supporter pays for a season’s worth of produce up front, which gives the grower the capital to grow that amount of produce for the year ahead. Supporting local farmers with a direct to consumer model, cutting out the middleman and fostering connections with local growers, increases the stability of the local food network in Chicago, while also providing better, more nutritious food. However, starting a CSA creates a barrier to entry for farms; they not only have to own and operate a farm, they would need a delivery method, sometimes refrigerated, to deliver to consumers, and would need to pay wages for a delivery van operator. Still, this is a better option than supermarkets, and can still work for many farmers.
- Angelic Organics is a vegetable farm, established in 1990 that operates out of Caldedonia.
- The Local Canopy has both indoor and outdoor farms, as well as connecting growers in Chicago and the Midwest. It’s part of their mission to create a sustainable, nutritious and equitable food system.
- Kings Hill Farm is a small scale, family farm looking to forward the future of farming. Based in Wisconsin, they have a Farm Shares program that operates similar to a CSA.
- Cedillos Fresh Produce is a family farm in Englewood founded by a third generation farmer, and offers free CSA delivery to homes on the south side, and free pick up on the north side.
- Star Farm Chicago provides different CSA membership opportunities with varied commitment, with options from a single CSA box, to a weekly box from July to October. They’re also a non-profit, providing access to vocational training and horticultural therapy.
Farmer’s Markets
A direct to consumer model with a lower barrier to entry than CSAs, farmers markets are approachable platforms for small scale agriculture. They also provide fewer barriers to the consumer, expelling the worries of too much produce from the CSAs, or higher prices from the local grocer. Additionally, many markets are non-profits, ensuring that every dime you are spending on your produce is going towards the fight for a sustainable food system. Even for markets which are not non-profit, $99/$100 spent at farmers markets stay in state, with $62 staying directly in the local community.
- Plant Chicago : They accept Link Match, and are a local nonprofit working on healthy, local food access.
- Lincoln Square Farmers Market : A farmers market run by the local chamber of commerce, who also organize a neighborhood improvement program.
- SOAR Farmers Market @ MCA : Another farmers market run by a neighborhood organization, in the MCA plaza, provides great access to produce.
- South Loop Farmers Market : A south loop staple, their farmers market provides produce, community engagement, art and a beautiful view of the surrounding architecture.
- Englewood Farmer’s Market : This market, located outside the Martin Luther King Roller Skating & Bowling Center at 1219 W. 76th St., runs every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. from July 14 to September 13. It accepts LINK and LINK Match.’
- Green City Market West Loop and Lincoln Park : Open from May to October, these farmers markets have any and all the produce you could need, while being publicly accessible and affordable.
Thanks to Stef Funk for her expert contribution on this article.