Chicago's Downtown Farmstand opened in October of 2008 offering residents and visitors to the area and opportunity to eat locally grown food and edibles produced here, year-round. By April of 2009 after hearing about it on Twitter I went looking for the place but never wrote down the exact address. I knew it was on Randolph St. but that was about it. I walked up and down Randolph St. between Michigan Ave. & Clark St and couldn't find it. I finally decided to start asking the employees of businesses on Randolph between Michagan Ave. and Wabash if they knew where it was, and nobody knew.
The last place I walked in to ask about the location of the Farmstand turned out to be the place I was looking for. It being April there wasn't much produce available but the shelves were packed with locally made foods of all kinds and some packaged goods. I'm accustomed to shopping in corner stores where you interact with cashiers through plexiglass or at large grocery store chains where you're lucky if the person taking your money ever bothers to look up at you.
Filed under: Eat Local
Tags: @featured, Edible Chicago, Sustainable
I've been looking for more places that sell locally grown and produced food. It's close to the Tribune, so I'll plan on checking it out soon--that is, if I can find it.
Tracy,
I have a feeling you're a lot smarter than me. I'd be willing to bet that you wouldn't walk past a neon sign that reads "Chicago's Downtown Farmstand" three times without the clue phone ringing, like I did.