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Chicago's Newest Co-op Keeps Its Commitment to Local Sourcing
Wild Onion Market, the new grocery co-op located in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood, has the eye-catching mural in the above photo, that boldly states, "When We Say Local, We Mean It!" I visited on Saturday (July 27) during the store's official Grand Opening celebration, and I am happy to report that they are living up to this commitment.
I had last visited Wild Onion Market in early June, a few days before it opened its doors to the public (the Grand Opening celebration was held off for a few weeks to make sure the store was up to speed).
The produce section hadn't been filled when I made that visit, and many products had yet to be shelved. So I was pleased on Saturday to see green-and-white "local" stickers and signs abound throughout the store, highlighting a wide variety of products.
The center aisles of the market include this display of locally made products, known in the trade as an end cap.
The grab-and-go cooler also has a local accent. Sampling product was Thomas Leavitt of White Oak Gourmet (Long Grove, Illinois), whose prepared meals were on the second shelf of the unit next to him.
That is not to say that everything in the store is local. It's actually quite far from it. To provide a full-service market, Wild Onion Market sources from a variety of consumer packaged goods producers, while maintaining its commitment to clean label products that include a large number of organic products.
And Wild Onion Market received great news just days before its Grand Opening celebration: The U.S. Department of Agriculture approved its application to accept food assistance benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), thus enabling the store to expand access to healthy, sustainably produced food for individuals facing food insecurity.
I was a bit overstocked on groceries, so my only purchases on Saturday were some mushrooms and a block of three-year-old cheddar from Hook's Cheese of Mineral Point, Wisconsin (one of my favorites). But Wild Onion Market is definitely an asset to the local food community, and next time I'll be back with a longer list.
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