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Even The Weather Smiled on Our Green City Market Tour Wednesday
- Bob Benenson
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
Market Director, Chefs Highlighted Market's Importance on Local Food Scene
My work as an advocate for a better food system centers on my roles as publisher of Local Food Forum and my contract work as communications consultant for Naturally Chicago, the non-profit association for the region's natural products CPG (consumer packaged goods) industry. Green City Market (GCM), a leader in the region's local food community, has been my local market since I moved to Chicago in 2011 and the subject of many articles I have written since.
If you drew a Venn diagram of these three entities, they would normally overlap only partially. But on Wednesday (August 13), a market tour that I helped organize brought all three together in a perfect circle of life.
A full capacity group of about 20 people learned about the market from Letisha "Tish" Steele, who has made an immediate impact since assuming the position of Green City's executive director in June.
In introductory remarks, Tish explained how her belief in healthy food for all was shaped by her upbringing in an impoverished coal mining region of West Virginia and her past career as a chef in Denver. She became a full-time advocate as head of the Denver Food Rescue non-profit, and she related how her interest in moving to Chicago to lead Green City Market was in part inspired by the non-profit's dedication to increasing access to healthy, locally produced food for those facing food insecurity.
I took the opportunity to share my lifelong passion for food, how it led me to transition from a 30-year career as a political journalist to a second career in Good Food advocacy, and how Green City Market is practically a second home for me in Chicago.
Naturally Chicago Managing Director Jim Slama noted that he was an early GCM Board member after its founding in 1999. After his marketing company Sustain ran a successful "Keep Organic Organic" campaign to block proposed rules that would have allowed harmful practices under the USDA organic certification process, Jim started and headed the FamilyFarmed non-profit. Naturally Chicago was part of that organization from its founding in 2019 until 2021, when he took it independent.
The tour was also graced by the presence of two chefs known for their amazing culinary skills and their contributions to the reputation for generosity enjoyed by our chef community.
Jason Hammel opened his now-legendary Lula Cafe in 1999, just a few months after Green City Market launched, and he has bought ingredients for his highly seasonal menus from its vendors ever since.
The winner of the James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Hospitality in 2024, Jason also joined with fellow chefs — including Paul Kahan of One Off Hospitality Group and Matthias Merges of Folkart Restaurant Management — in 2010 to start Pilot Light, a non-profit that works with schools in Chicago and across the nation to help teachers integrate learnings about food into their curriculums.
Chef Sebastian White, a self-taught culinary artist, has also become well-acquainted with Green City Market through his work as founder of The Evolved Network. Sebastian, a clinical psychologist who formerly counseled at-risk youths to divert them from gangs, works with Chicago schools to provide food education, cooking lessons and life skills for underprivileged students.
Our market walk ensued with the first stop at the stand of Nichols Farm and Orchard, the largest diversified produce farm in the Chicago region. Steve Freeman (right in the above photo) has worked for Nichols over the past 21 years and has earned the nickname of "Steve the Market Guy."
Steve related how the farm in Marengo, Illinois, started in 1979, is now employing its third generation of family members. This prompted a discussion about how important multi-generational farms are in keeping precious farmland in cultivation and out of commercial development. Two of our other formal stops — at the stands of Ellis Family Farms (Benton Harbor, Michigan) and Mick Klug Farm (St. Joseph, Michigan) — also paid tribute to multi-generational farms.
With the engaging presentations, fortunate weather, and the opportunity to shop for delicious, healthy, sustainably produced food, we're calling the market visit a big success. Thanks so much to Tish, Chefs Jason and Sebastian, and all the attendees for helping make that happen.
And a reminder: Tickets are on sale for Green City Market's Chef BBQ, Chicago's most highly anticipated annual outdoor culinary event, which takes place on the evening of Thursday, September 4. For more information and to buy tickets, click the button below.
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