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Star Farm Chicago at 10: Growing Food, Community, and Opportunity
- Bob Benenson
- 2 minutes ago
- 6 min read
Learn About the Mission-Driven Urban Farming Operation, Market and Gala
Star Farm Market opened last year in Back of the Yards, an under-served community on Chicago's South Side. It occupies a once-vacant building at 5256 S. Ashland Ave., which has been transformed into a vibrant neighborhood hub of food, community and economic opportunity.
The market is the long-anticipated next chapter for Star Farm Chicago, a leading urban farming non-profit, as it celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.
For Founder/CEO Stephanie Dunn, the milestone is less about longevity and more about evolution — how a modest community garden project became a multifaceted engine for local resilience.
From a Single Plot to a Neighborhood Platform
Star Farm Chicago began a decade ago with a simple premise: create a welcoming green space and grow fresh food in a neighborhood that lacked both. The organization’s earliest efforts focused on community engagement, including programming for people with disabilities, and neighborhood events that quickly gained traction.
“The response was overwhelmingly positive,” Stephanie recalls. “We saw a real need for safe green spaces, for access to fresh produce, for places where people could gather.”
That demand fueled rapid expansion. At its peak, Star Farm operated seven urban farm sites and participated in eight farmers markets, all while running a growing slate of programs.
Today, the organization has strategically scaled back to three primary farm sites plus two subleased plots, an intentional move that Stephanie says has improved productivity. “With fewer sites, we can give each one more attention,” she explains. “And we’re producing just as much, if not more.”
Farming Without Seasons
Like a growing number of farms big and small in the Chicago region, Star Farm Chicago operates nearly year-round. High-intensity growing methods, greenhouses and other indoor production allow the organization to harvest from January through December.
“We don’t stop,” Stephanie says, noting that Star Farm's community-supported agriculture (CSA) subscription program runs all year. "In the winter, we’re producing microgreens and working through storage crops. Now, with the Market building, we can expand indoor production even more.”
That approach reflects a broader shift in Chicago’s local food ecosystem, where "season extension" has redefined what’s possible. But for Star Farm, it’s also about consistency, ensuring that community members can maintain reliable access to fresh, healthy food regardless of the time of year.
The Market: An Instant Community Anchor
The opening of Star Farm Market in late 2025 marked a turning point. The project had been years in the making, driven in part by a troubling trend: three grocery stores serving the neighborhood had closed during the planning process.
Stephanie and her team saw an opportunity to fill that void, with the Market designed not just as a retail outlet, but also a multifunctional space that could support farmers, entrepreneurs and residents alike.
“We realized farmers need more than just land,” she says. “We need indoor space, storage, a kitchen to process food. And we’re not the only ones.”
The result is a hybrid facility that includes:
A neighborhood grocery store featuring local produce and prepared foods
A shared commercial kitchen for food entrepreneurs
Both indoor and outdoor event and dining spaces
Expanded capacity for programming and education
Importantly, the market was designed with the community, not outside stakeholders, as its primary audience. “We didn’t do a big grand opening with dignitaries,” Stepanie notes. “We invited our neighbors and partners first. They’ve been waiting for this.”
The response has been enthusiastic. Early events, including a Halloween celebration, drew strong attendance — particularly meaningful in a neighborhood where safety concerns have historically limited outdoor activities.
Addressing Food Access and Safety
Back of the Yards is a historic working-class neighborhood that got its name from the famed stockyards that made up a noisome but powerful economic driver for Chicago's economy from the late 19th century until their closure in 1971. The neighborhood faced economic decline and accompanying societal ills in the decades that followed.
Stephanie relates that when Star Farm Chicago launched 10 years ago, there were high levels of gun violence and limited access to healthy food. Residents were often advised by doctors to exercise outdoors and eat more fresh produce, but had few safe or affordable ways to do either.
Creating an urban farm was, in part, Stephanie's response to that contradiction. “We were given a problem: People needed safe places to go and better food options,” she says. “This was our way of contributing to a solution.”
Over time, the farms became more than growing spaces. They became neutral ground, where partnerships could form and community life could flourish. Collaborations with local organizations, schools and health initiatives have expanded Star Farm’s reach, from maternity health programs to youth education.
Food as Economic Development
Beyond food access, Star Farm Chicago is deeply focused on economic opportunity. The new Market facility alone has added multiple salaried and part-time positions, while the shared kitchen opens doors for aspiring food entrepreneurs.
“There are so many talented cooks who can’t scale because they don’t have access to a commercial kitchen,” Stephanie explains. “This gives them a pathway.”
The organization also supports new farmers through incubation programs, welcoming participants of all ages and backgrounds. “You’re never too young — or too old — to start farming,” she says.
This emphasis aligns with a broader philosophy: that food systems can and should drive local economic development. Stephanie points to the billions of dollars spent annually on food imported into Chicago as evidence of untapped potential.
“That’s money leaving our communities,” she says. “We’re trying to bring more of it back.”
Programming That Builds Community
Star Farm Chicago has significantly expanded its programming with the addition of indoor space, Highlights include:
Monthly Community Dinners: Sliding-scale or free meals that showcase seasonal, locally sourced ingredients in globally inspired dishes. Menus reflect the neighborhood’s cultural diversity, from Afro-Latino cuisine to Southern comfort food.
Happy Plate Series: Weekly nutrition and cooking demonstrations
After-School Programs: Hands-on cooking and food education for youth
Field to Fork Fridays: Volunteer days that combine farm work with shared meals
Supper Club: A new membership-based series of immersive dining experiences, blending food, education and interactive elements
The programming is designed not just to feed people, but to engage them, encouraging exploration, cultural exchange and a deeper connection to food. “We want people to feel the farm,” Stephanie says. “To participate in it, not just consume it.”
A Cooperative Vision
Although Star Farm Market is already operational, its long-term vision includes a cooperative ownership model.
While most co-op groceries finance their buildouts by selling ownership shares to community members, Stephanie describes her approach as a form of “reverse engineering” — building the store first, then developing membership structures that allow the community to shape its future.
A new market manager with expertise in food co-ops is expected to help refine that model in the coming months.
Celebrating 10 Years—and Looking Ahead
The organization’s 10th anniversary will culminate in a gala on September 12, held at the new facility. For the first time, the event will take place indoors, reflecting both the growth of the organization and its commitment to bringing people into the neighborhood.
“We’ve always hosted our gala on the farm,” Stephanie says. “But this year, we want people to experience this space and to see Back of the Yards as a destination.”
The celebration will feature food, music, community testimonials, and a keynote by Marty Travis, a regenerative farming pioneer and local food advocate from Spence Farm in downstate Fairbury .
But more than anything, it will mark a moment of transition. After 10 years of building farms, Star Farm Chicago is now building systems, integrating production, distribution, education, and entrepreneurship under one roof.
A Model Rooted in Place
For Stephanie, the success of Star Farm Chicago ultimately comes down to relationships. “This is a platform,” she says. “It works because of our partners, our neighbors and the people who believe in what we’re doing.”
That belief is evident in the organization’s diverse customer base, which includes both longtime residents and newcomers seeking connection.“There’s something about eating food grown where you live,” Stephanie reflects. “It grounds you. It makes you feel part of something.”
In a city where food is deeply woven into cultural identity, Star Farm Chicago offers a powerful example of what’s possible when that identity is harnessed for community good. Ten years in, its roots are firmly planted — and its reach is only beginning to expand.
Note: A follow-up article will provide details about September's 10th Anniversary Gala and other events that Star Farm Chicago has planned.