NewsChicago Tribune: Fresh bread, grass-fed meat and locally grown produce delivered to your door? It's happening, as farmers markets turn virtual to help growers hurt by coronovirus shutdowns.

Written By: Louisa Chu of Chicago Tribune

Market inspired and chef driven. The mantra has made Chicago a world renowned culinary destination in recent years. The West Loop epicenter rose around a herd of Goat restaurants, where farmers shared billing on top chef menus. O’Hare travelers detoured for tortas filled with locally sourced ingredients. Public school kids learned through lessons and lunches illuminating the path of food, from farm to cafeteria table.

Virtual farmers markets, urban farm pickups and a new home delivery app are a few of the solutions growing with the spring produce season. Looming uncertainty, though, has some wondering if they should leave farming completely, while others dig in, determined to grow more food in the city.

“Our indoor market is at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum,” said Melissa Flynn, executive director of Green City Market. The biggest and best known farmers market in Chicago is based indoors during the winter, then pops up in Lincoln Park during the height of the season, usually the beginning of May. “Like all public institutions, it’s closed at the moment so we have nowhere to have our market. People who depend on us for getting great local nutritious food, and the farmers who depend on us to get their products to people, have nowhere to go either.”

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