110910 Wed Jun 19 15:40:07 -0700 2002 8 7 Chicago Area 0 599517 Thanks again to all who shared their neighborhood dining & housing savvy in the thread below. Now that we are completely sold on Andersonville, we come to the next chow-related question--food shopping--which many posters have already alluded to below. Small local groceries and specialty shops are great--I prefer them to regular supermarkets. But as my S.O. and I both have rather "green" dietary tastes, we will be probably be commuting to Whole Foods fairly often . That shouldn't be a problem, but we will sorely miss our (in)famous food co-op in Park Slope. It's not just the great produce and the low prices, but the community spirit and emphasis on local buying that makes it special. How are the food co-ops in Chicago? From what I can tell, there are 3 on the South Side that are related in some confusing way. Is it worth trekking all the way down there for groceries? And what about CSA's (where you get a share in the produce that a farmer brings to a central pick-up place every week)--does anyone have any experience with those? Although I must say my friend in Manhattan just picked up her first CSA box of the season yesterday (with me there to commemorate the blessed event), and she received a very small assortment of fairly sorry-looking produce. But then again, that's Manhattan for you. Wed Jun 19 15:40:07 -0700 2002 0 FJ Young 1 599522 *cracking knuckles* chicago is full of excellent little markets, though i'm not very familiar with those of andersonville. i've been slowly blogging independent grocers on my site, fuckcorporategroceries.net, since last september (no archives for april or may right now though, i need to fix that). the "co-ops" in hyde park are probably not what you're thinking of; they only offer discounts to members one thursday a month, and most of the food is fairly marked-up in price. they do carry a great range of vegetarian food (meat substitutes, alternative milks, etc.), but you'll be paying for it. as far as genuine co-ops go, i haven't really found any here that are worth investing the effort in, so if anyone knows of any, please share. that's just an area where chicago is really lacking. for fresh produce, there are some great farmers' markets in the summertime on every day of the week, and a few go year-round. if i can't make it to a farmer's market i like to hit stanley's for really cheap stuff, sometimes organic, though i'll give this caveat: you'll need to use whatever you buy there right away. cyd and d'pano is a little more upscale than stanley's, has fabulous produce, and also an amazing range of vegetarian food. as for the csa's, the one that immediately comes to mind is angelic organics; for a yearly membership you'll get a box of organically grown seasonal produce every week. i could go link crazy here, but there's only one link spot for this post, so i'll just link to my site, fcg. it has a links page with co-op info, angelic organics, farmers' markets urls, as well as addresses for stanley's and many other independent stores are on a separate page as well. if you have any more specific questions i'm happy to answer them as best i can, since i've been really enjoying the slow cataloguing of independent grocers, markets, bakeries, etc. this chowhound board is a great resource too; if you have time, browse the old posts, they're loaded with great recommendations. Link: http://fuckcorporategroceries.net Wed Jun 19 16:20:04 -0700 2002 599517 0 j3s 2 599530 Thanks J, your site is very informative (and entertaining as well). Wed Jun 19 17:43:19 -0700 2002 599522 0 FJ Young 3 599563 FJ- We are in a CSA locally (our first year) and our selection has sorta sucked so far. It was a cold wet spring, so the early season veggies didn't do well. No fault of the farmer tho, my garden hasn't done much either. If the weather keeps up like it has, tomatoes, peppers and the rest should be great in a couple of months. I don't know what your timeframe is to move, but you could consider growing some veggies in containers on a balcony. Doesn't get much fresher than just picked! Tom Wed Jun 19 22:33:09 -0700 2002 599530 0 Tom V 4 599591 There's also Timber Creek Farms 630-553-2208 Fax 630-553-1557 and they deliver TO YOUR HOME! Woo hoo! AND, there's an organic coop at TRUE NATURE FOODS 6034 N. Broadway Chicago, IL 60660 Phone (773) 465-6400. These people are wonderful. For non organic veggies I go to Devon Market. Of course, I live in that neighborhood, but it's really a great market, and they're starting to supply organic milk and yogurt and some organic cheese as well. Their veggies are cheap and usually good. Harvestime is another good one for cheap non organic produce...and they have D'Amato's bread! Yayy! Thu Jun 20 14:59:22 -0700 2002 599563 0 Jen 2 599568 The Hyde Park Co-op is a genuine co-op, founded in the 1930's and is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, co-op in the country. It has a large selection of organic foods, is democratically run, and is invoved in community activities. Wed Jun 19 23:20:54 -0700 2002 599522 0 Jane 1 599551 I found out about a natural foods co-op recently, in the Andersonville/Ravenswood area, actually. There is no storefront, so you need to order your stuff from the catalog and go to the pick up site (in neighborhood). They have all the stuff Whole Foods has, and it *is* cheaper than "Whole Paycheck" (how much varies with each item). But the ordering is only done once a month. I'm deciding if it will work for me or not. If you want more info, I can forward it to you. I would also be interested in hearing about other co-ops that are good, especially if ordering is done more than once a month. I also signed up with Angelic Organics for the first time this year, but I *think* they are all sold out of shares for the year. But the Farmer's Markets can be really great. Evanston on Saturdays, Lincoln Square on Tuesday mornings, others... Wed Jun 19 19:45:22 -0700 2002 599517 0 Aubergine 2 599575 Aubergine, I'd be interested in finding out more about that once-a-month co-op. It might work for nonperishable bulk items, household products, cat food, etc. We are actually not arriving till September--but if you have a url or phone number you could post, I can add it to my rapidly growing Relocation file. Thanks! Thu Jun 20 09:37:14 -0700 2002 599551 0 FJ Young 3 599588 FJ, It's called Chicago Communitarian Cooperative. Call 773-509-0878 (ask for Sundee). No URL at the moment. Thu Jun 20 13:00:46 -0700 2002 599575 0 Aubergine