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Happy 1st Anniversary, Wild Onion Market, and Many More
- Bob Benenson
- Jun 24
- 3 min read
Food Co-0p Provides Healthy, Sustainable Options on Chicago's Far North Side
Food co-ops have no easy road to opening in most states, and Illinois is no exception. In general, it is difficult for small, independent grocery concepts to raise enough money to open and function successfully. The bar is even higher in Illinois, where a law on the books for 112 years limits the amount of money that individuals can invest in a food co-op — which helps explain why those that manage to open do so after 10 years or more of development.
Wild Onion Market, which opened a year ago in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood, fits this mold. The project, which was first discussed in 2012, took 12 years to open its doors. Then the store faced financial challenges in its early months.
Yet the atmosphere was upbeat on Sunday (June 22), when Wild Onion threw itself 1st anniversary. Despite the brutal heat wave occurring outside, there was a good turnout of regular customers and newcomers who enjoyed musical entertainment, sampled tasty products from local producers, and had the opportunity to shop from the store's inventory of healthy, sustainably produced food.
In the general manager's role he has held since February, Matt Weschler provides a steady hand at the helm.
Matt is a documentary filmmaker whose 2016 film "Sustainable" is one of my favorite movies about the better-for-people-and-the-planet food movement. He also grew up in an entrepreneurial family that owned a video production business (where he learned his movie-making skills), and he founded and for three years owned Village Farmstand, an online farmers market based in nearby Evanston that sources from a number of regional farms.
He also had previously served on the Wild Onion Board of Directors during its development phase.
Enjoy the photos from my walk around the store.
When I interviewed Matt for a story we published on April 21, he told me that upgrading the produce section — and bringing in more regionally produced vegetables and fruit — were top priorities. Those "Local" tags that have proliferated in the section indicate that the effort is succeeding.
The store also goes to some length to source local. Matt informed that they had gone to the Sunday farmers markets in suburban Skokie to buy these sweet cherries from Ellis Family Farms (Benton Harbor, Michigan). A pint of these became the first cherries I've purchased this year.
Chicago's Phoenix Bean Tofu is among the local brands that Wild Onion Market has on its shelves.
The brands tabling at the event:
El Molcajete Mexican sauces and tortilla chips (Evanston).
Candelite tavern-style (thin crust) pizza, which shares its name with a long-popular Chicago restaurant.
Women-owned Saucier Soups and Sauces (Evanston).
Koval, which uses only organic grain in his wide variety of spirits. Koval was the first distillery to produce in Chicago since Prohibition when it opened in 2008.
Chicago Cane Collective, which produces rum from sugar cane, describes itself as one of the first worker-owned spirits companies in the world.
It's all about community. Chad Curry is a Wild Onion Market Board member who chairs its Community Engagement Committee.
Let there be music!
If we've piqued your interest, visit Wild Onion Market at 7007 N. Clark St. The store is open every day from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
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