When: Saturday, October 22nd
10:30am - noon
Where: Rogers Park Library
6907 N. Clark St.

Join us for a new owner orientation on Saturday, October 22nd, 10:30 a.m.- noon at the Rogers Park Library, 6907 N. Clark St. Meet other owners and get your questions answered. Find out what you can do to move the co-op forward. Chris Roland, General Manager of the Sugar Beet Co-op, Oak Park, open since August 2105 will be on hand to present a picture of what we have to look forward to here in Rogers Park. Join the wonderful community of owners working to get the co-op open. We will be serving coffee, tea and bagels.

Please RSVP here

email [email protected] if you are unable to access the RSVP

What: Kick-off event for RPFC's chef demonstration series, Our Neighbors' Kitchens
When: Friday, November 11th, 7pm
Where:Rambler Room, Centennial Forum, Loyola University
Cost: Free!

RSVP here

It's the most wonderful time of the year: outdoor farmers market season!

Although the outdoor farmers market season is coming to a close, we will be your community resource and post the indoor schedule on our Facebook Page.

Until then, continue to look for the Rogers Park Food Co-op outside of the Glenwood Sunday Market, or at a library or festival near you. Volunteers will be there to talk about the Co-op and what we will provide to the community.

Want to help the Co-op while spending time outside? Sign up to volunteer at the Farmers Markets!

RPFC is in need of newsletter contributors. The monthly email newsletter serves a vital function because it keeps our owners, volunteers and supporters informed of the Co-op’s events and milestones.

As a potential newsletter contributor, you should be knowledgeable, curious and a writer or aspiring writer. Besides these things, some skills that would benefit the newsletter are knowledge of coops and grocery coops in particular and passion for the sustainable food movement.

This is an opportunity for our owners or volunteers to contribute articles or to establish an editorial style for the newsletter and to take the lead in keeping our supporters informed. Do not hesitate to contact Hank Rouse (owner #71) if you want to take advantage of this opportunity.

By Desi Phillips (Owner #3)

Growing up in the Quad Cities, the majority of my food came from father’s garden, so fresh, local food has always been a very important part of my life and my diet.

In my experience, the Quad Cities have never really had a wide variety of choices when it came to good food. This is why the Quad Cities Food Hub is so important and wonderful to the development of this local food movement. It’s a bi-state initiative that connects farmers and consumers in Iowa and Illinois in an effort to enhance regional local food production and consumption. The organization is part of a network of Regional Food System Working Groups which help support long-term connections between farmers and consumers while helping to meet the health, social, economic and environmental needs of the local community.

Recently, I had the fortune of visiting the QC Food Hub. It’s a delightful little community of its own, with local offerings of fresh produce and other local foods, handmade jewelry and art-pieces, homemade pottery, an education center, and a community center where they offer all sorts of classes. It even has its own shared-use community kitchen where they offer help to burgeoning small businesses to cultivate a customer base, and eventually to move into their own spaces. This matches my vision for what I would love our food co-op to be.

Uncommon Ground

You can't find a shorter route from farm to table than you can at Uncommon Ground, 1401 W. Devon Ave., where the certified organic farm is on the roof of the restaurant. Owners Helen and Michael Cameron are active in the good food movement. No wonder they are such good partners for a food co-op! Not only has Uncommon Ground hosted a number of events for the co-op, but they also donated some of their delicious mac and cheese for our annual meeting last March. If you haven't visited the restaurant lately, this is a great time of year for their sustainable, local food.

Their Lakeview location is at 3800 N Clark St.

Pub 626

Pub 626, 1406 W. Morse Ave., at the corner of Morse and Glenwood, is the latest business in that space. Serving pub food with a Southwestern flair, 626 has found its niche in Rogers Park. Owner Colm Treacy invests in the neighborhood—not just with his businesses, but also by donating to the Rogers Park Food Co-op. Be sure to stop by Pub 626 and let them know how much you appreciate their support.

Be sure to see the full list of supporting businesses here.