The Uptown Farmers Market has been open since May every Wednesday, 2:30 to 7 p.m., and through rain or shine, heat and humidity, it has become a destination for people to buy fresh local produce, patronize local small businesses or just mix with neighbors.
The market has been in the Sunnyside Mall for three years (on Sunnyside between Magnolia and Beacon), relocated from Wilson and Broadway. The move to the mall has proved beneficial as an ideal place for neighbors to walk to market. It’s also rent free and just a brief trot from the Wilson CTA stop and Truman College.
“We’re really lucky because this is a pedestrian mall,” said owner and president Kate Grimm, who has run the market with her partner Matthew Ruffi for the past five years. “We submit a permit to the city, but we get the space for free.”
“This is just a purpose-built space, it is a beautiful space,” Grimm said. “It’s in the heart of the neighborhood. We get a lot of families, and we’ve tripled our attendance from the last location.”
She said that they get roughly 1,000 visitors to the market on a weekly basis, with a high of 1,500 on one busy Wednesday.
Chicago’s unpredictable weather has played a factor on some days. “Well, the weather you can’t control, and this year was really, really tough,” Ruffi said about the spring and summer climate. “We had rain in every single market in June and July. So that’s always really, really tough. These vendors count on this market because this is their living, and we feel very responsible to make sure we have people here and shop.”
When the weather cooperates, the market is bustling with local businesses offering their wares, and of course fresh produce is the biggest attraction. They have a close relationship with the farmers and strive for locally grown, fresh produce.
“The farmers that we have here, I know them all by name, and I’ve been to some of their farms,” Grimm said. “I know their missions – they might not be organic, but they’re working toward organic. We have full transparency of all their growing practices, and we know exactly where everything is coming from, which I think is really important to know.”
The market is independently run, which is different from many markets that are run by the city or chambers of commerce, so they rely heavily on sponsors and volunteers to keep the market running.
They have one full-time staffer who manages the market on Wednesdays, and a host of volunteers who take on various tasks, including counting attendees, which is partly the responsibility of Karen Schneider. Despite some physical limitations with her sight and hearing, she still travels by public transportation to help out using a clicker to count patrons.
“I take public transportation to get here,” she said, “but I wouldn’t want to miss it because I love getting out into the community — today I counted 126 people in the first half hour.”
The tough economic climate is a reality that has to be accepted as well, and there have been some effects on shoppers, but not a huge blow.
“I think whenever the economy slumps things like this are seen as more of a luxury and people might buy a little bit less,” Grimm said. “They might not buy steaks, but they’ll buy tomatoes. You see that impact. We haven’t had any formal discussions about it, but you definitely hear people whispering about it. Sometimes things are going to be a little more expensive, sometimes a little bit less. It depends on what you’re going to buy, but knowing where your food comes from and that the money is staying in the area is the most important thing.”
Grimm continued, “I think it’s important to support the vendors. That’s really where our purpose really came from, to support vendors and farmers that were having a really hard time. We really try to focus on the local area and focus on the neighborhood. Sometimes the ingredients might not be local, but it’s a fledgling business that needs exposure.”
“It just gives me joy because it’s helping a local business, it’s helping a local person,” added Ruffi. “We’d love to see a little bit more, and that’s something we’ve really been trying. And it’s just bringing joy to the neighborhood.”
Both Ruffi and Grimm have full-time day jobs that generally keep them indoors, and Grimm said she looks forward to getting out into the fresh air and community: “I love it. This is a side project for me. I have a day job in something completely different. I work in data protection and security, so it is very different from this. I love being a part of being part of the community, and people recognize me as the person that runs the farmers market. I love Uptown, I have lived here for five years now, and I can’t see myself moving anytime soon.”
Looking to the future, Grimm said they would like to bring in more events, like cooking demonstrations, but they’ll implement more programming gradually so they “get it right.”
The Uptown Farmers Market runs through Nov. 5, rain or shine. See their web site for a list of vendors and more info.
