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Evanston Ecology Center Winter Market = Better for the Planet Food
- Bob Benenson
- 24 hours ago
- 2 min read
Farmers Market Reporter Ed Kugler sent photos from a recent visit
Ed Kugler, a longtime local food advocate, is manager of the Ravinia Farmers Market in the north Chicago suburb of Highland Park (he was one of the market's first vendors when it opened in 1978). Having launched Ravinia's first winter market last year, he is doing two this year, one every Saturday starting this weekend (January 10) and a Friday market that gets under way next week (January 16).
While waiting for his own markets to open, Ed has been wearing his Farmers Market Manager hat and visiting some of the local markets that started their winter seasons a bit earlier.
This article shares photos of the every-other-week farmers market at the Ecology Center in Evanston, just north of Chicago, which will also be open this Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The market, located at 2024 McCormick Blvd., alternates Saturday with Evanston's Community Indoor Market — located at the Immanuel Lutheran Church, 616 Lake St. in the city's downtown — which will next be open on January 16.
We hope the following photos provide a flavor of the Evanston Ecology Center market, which has a mix of vendors that are longtime pillars of the region's local food community and some newer producers as well.
And to get the full rundown of the Chicago regional winter market schedule, click the button below to access Local Food Forum's Winter Market Tracker.
Lots of wood finishes give the Evanston Ecology Center a cozy rustic atmosphere.
Signage gives guidance on the market's every-other-Saturday schedule and the participating vendors.
Two veteran vendors, with wide distribution at Chicago-area markets, are (at top) Smits Farms, based in Chicago Heights, Illinois, and River Valley Ranch Mushrooms of Burlington, Wisconsin.
North Sky Farm, producer of organic grass-fed cheese, is a relatively newcomer, having launched in 2022. Owners Travis and Mariah Hurt relocated from Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains to Harvard in north-central Illinois at the heart of Illinois' dairy country.