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The Week's Farmers Market Visits Included Getting Schooled
- Bob Benenson
- May 11
- 2 min read
Vendors and Chefs Staged a Local Food Pop-Up at Chicago Elementary School
[NOTE: This article is revised to correct how the school event was organized.]
The farmers market I visited on Friday (May 8) was quite out of the ordinary. It was held in the outdoor playground at Ray Elementary School in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood at the end of the school day.
The event was organized by The Evolved Network, the non-profit created by Chef Sebastian White to provide disadvantaged Chicago youths with food education, cooking lessons and life skills.
Along with farmers market vendors, The Evolved Network engaged four chefs in addition to Sebastian — all leaders in the Chicago region's extraordinary chef philanthropy community.
Sarah Stegner, Prairie Grass Cafe
Tigist Reda, Demera Ethiopian Restaurant
Darnell Reed, Luella's Southern Kitchen
Arshiya Farheen, Verzênay Patisserie
They served elevated kid-sized treats to the young students, who appeared to be enjoying the event immensely:
Ford Philanthropy, based in Dearborn, Michigan.partnered on the event to support the participation by the farmer-vendors.
Unfortunately, I was informed upon arrival that some of the students did not have signed waivers allowing them to be photographed. It is a situation I've faced several times over my years of covering food education programs. The students were packed into a small part of the event space where the chefs were located, and I was unable to get usable photographs that excluded the children.
You'll just have to take my word for it that the students had fun and the food served to them looked delicious.
The farmer-vendor stands were off to the side, though. They included Nichols Farm & Orchard (Marengo, Illinois) in the photo at top and River Valley Ranch Mushrooms, celebrating its 50th anniversary in Burlington, Wisconsin.
My mini-market haul: cremini and lion's mane mushrooms from River Valley, asparagus and Braeburn apples from Nichols.
Then on Saturday, I moved on to a more typical setting at Green City Market in Lincoln Park.
Green City has been popular since its launch in 1999, but its attendance particularly picked up in the wake of the COVID pandemic. It is still early May, we are a few weeks away from peak crop season, and they're still a few vendors short of a full season's complement. But the crowds on the walkways resemble the peak season crowds of a few years ago — and baked goods producers such as pHlour (photo above) have long lines.
My mostly Green City haul: a big and beautiful head of green leaf lettuce from Wholesome Harvest (Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin), sesame bagels from Dorothy's Bakery (Chicago), more asparagus from Mick Klug Farm (St. Joseph, Michigan), cherry tomatoes from Nichols Farm and Orchard (Marengo, Illinois), and La Cosecha tortilla chips (Madison, Wisconsin), along with four scones from Hillary's Cookies (Chicago), picked up at Chicago Nettlehorst French Market on my way home.
Get ready for this week's growing number of markets with Local Food Forum's Chicago region Market Tracker.
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