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Green City Director Explains Why the Market Stands by Producer-Only
- Bob Benenson
- 22 hours ago
- 3 min read
Market Founders Set the Farmer-First Standard When They Launched in 1999
There were few farmers markets in the Chicago region when Green City Market was launched in 1999, at a time when local sourcing standards were a very mixed bag. While most existing markets welcomed local farmers, many also allowed vendors who obtained non-local produce from the city's wholesale markets.
Green City Market founder Abby Mandel, supported by leading local chefs such as Rick Bayless and Sarah Stegner, held to a different paradigm, viewing markets as a way to support local farmers, enable them to produce more food, and encourage other farmers to join in. They defined the Chicago foodshed as roughly a 200-mile radius around the city, which included much of Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana — and they only allowed producers to vend at the market.
This approach had a powerful influence on a regional farmers market ecosystem that grew quickly over the past couple of decades in sync with the fast-rising consumer interest in locally produced food.
This was the subject of an essay by Tish Steele, Green City Market's executive director, then was sent in a newsletter Friday (July 17). I'm sharing it here because it really sums up why producer-only is so important, even as consumer demand has created increasing opportunities for prepared food vendors.
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A View from the Market
Farmers First: Creating Markets for Farmers
Over the past few weeks, many of you have reached out with thoughtful questions about changes you've seen at the market. We welcome these conversations because they give us the opportunity to share the thinking behind our decisions. At Green City Market, that thinking always begins with the same principle: creating markets for farmers.
When Abby Mandel founded Green City Market 27 years ago, she had a clear vision: strengthen the regional food system by creating meaningful economic opportunities for sustainable Midwestern farmers. She built a producer-only market where every relationship, every purchase, and every partnership would contribute to that vision. It remains the foundation of everything we do today.
Being producer-only means the people behind every market stand are the people who grow, raise, harvest, or create the products they sell. It also means every participant shares a responsibility to strengthen the farms that make this market possible. That's what Farmer First means.
That commitment extends beyond our farm stands. Our prepared food vendors are here to showcase the incredible harvest our farmers produce and create additional markets for those ingredients.
Before the market opens, you'll often find Sam from Flock & Forage shopping neighboring farm stands for that day's menu. Hoosier Mama Pie Company fills its pies with fruit purchased from market farmers. There's always a line at Mint Creek, where the signature lamb burger begins with lamb they raised on their own farm and is topped with vegetables sourced from the growers surrounding them at market. Suffice transforms the farmers' fruits into seasonal gelato and sorbet (keep your eyes out for the pawpaw gelato - it’s one of my favorites).
These partnerships don't happen by accident. They're built into how Green City Market operates.
Prepared food vendors are reviewed and approved for how they contribute to this shared commitment. We ask them to build their menus around what our farmers are growing and raising because every purchase from a neighboring vendor creates another sale, another customer, and another opportunity for a regional farm to thrive.
When I asked Abby Schilling of Mick Klüg Farms why that matters, she said it better than I could:
"If the market didn't require prepared food vendors to source from neighboring farms, they could use fruit from anywhere. If they're using mangoes instead of our blueberries, that directly impacts our farm. It means fewer blueberries we get to sell. To me, that's the best example of a local food system working the way it should. Those requirements create markets for farmers."
That is the heart of Green City Market.
Being Farmer First is about building a regional food system where farmers, food businesses, chefs, and shoppers all strengthen one another. It's the philosophy behind our markets, our programs, and every decision we make.
Tish Steele,
Executive Director, Green City Market