Chicago's Green City Market

Green City Market

I love farmer’s markets. Even more than that, I love cities with a central market, a place for locals to go to get their meats or fresh veg from vendors they know and trust. European cities are full of these markets: Borough Market in London, the Central Market Hall in Budapest, and Stockholm’s Östermalms Saluhall. Some cities in the U.S. have continued this tradition: Pike Place Market in Seattle, Philly’s Reading Terminal Market, Cleveland’s West Side Market and Milwaukee’s Public Market. You’d think a city like Chicago would have a big, old public market like these, but sadly it does not. We do have the newer French Market downtown which is more of a place to go grab a nifty lunch and of course we have neighborhood farmer’s markets all over town.

Probably the biggest and best farmer’s market is Green City Market. Chicago’s only truly “green” farmer’s market supporting and promoting local, sustainable agricultural practices.

Their mission is:

To provide a marketplace for purchasing sustainably grown food that educates, promotes, and connects farmers and local producers directly to chefs, restaurateurs and the greater Chicago community.

From May through the end of October, the market is outside in Lincoln Park north of North Avenue and south of the Lincoln Park Zoo. Then in the winter, it moves indoors into the Nature Museum just a little further north inside the park.

The market has dozens of farmers and local food producers with everything from honey to breads to crepes. It’s a great place to buy some fresh produce or flowers and then grab a tasty bite to eat. I rode my bike down to the market on a recent Sunday. Here’s a look at what I saw.