Wild Onion Market is our market. We’ll keep dollars local, support local farmers and producers, and help build a sustainable food production and packaging system. Join here!
Spread the word! Share and comment @WildOnionMarket on Facebook and Instagram
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We Love Local Businesses
Wild Onion Market currently has almost 800 Owners and 95 of those are local businesses! These businesses are taking a stand by supporting our grassroots effort to grow a community-owned, democratically run, full-service grocery store.
We love to highlight our local merchant partners by featuring them on social media. Are you a business owner? Join the co-op! We look forward to highlighting you on our Facebook and Instagram feeds (and forging other partnerships as we get closer to opening the store).
WE ARE STRONGER TOGETHER! Let’s strengthen our local economies and grow a more sustainable food system that puts people and our planet before profit.
Wild Onion Market business owners
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Help Reach the Goal: 1000 Owners in 2021 to Put Doors on our Store
Why Join Right Now?
– Food co-ops are on the rise nationwide. Together, we have the power to support food security, local farmers/producers, and access to healthy foods in our communities.
– Help create a more responsible and just food system.
– We are close to having a site for Wild Onion Market in Rogers Park/West Ridge/South Evanston.
– So you can have easy access to local, organic, fairly traded and sustainable foods ASAP.
– We are 774 Owners strong and growing! We added 50 new owners in May.
– We need at least 1000 owners to secure funding to make the store a reality.
– Every Owner counts and has a voice in our future.
– We’ll get you a Wild Onion Market hat, car magnets and buttons to show your pride!
Join our co-op. Purchase a one-time only Owner share ($250 per household/business).
To make ownership affordable, we have various accessibility options, including monthly installments starting at $10 per month and a scholarship program.
Read more about Wild Onion Market here.
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T-Shirt Time
Show your co-op pride, buy a Wild Onion Market t-shirt!
The online store is open until June 30 at stores.goodink.com/wildonionmarket
Available in an assortment of colors in unisex, women’s and youth styles.
Celebrate Wild Onion Market and help spread the word!
Wild Onion Market tee shirts
Dori Conn & Jeff Balch, Owners #447
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Location, Location, Location
After vetting over 30 sites in Rogers Park, Evanston and West Ridge, we have finally found a space that we hope to call home.
Before we can sign a lease, due diligence must be done to protect our Owners’ investments. We’ve completed our market study and are using the findings to make projections about what our financial picture would look like at the site — sales estimates, and costs of running our store, including paying a fair wage to our future staff.
We’ve hired a store designer and are awaiting proposals from 3 local architects. This is happening, people!
Our hope is to make a big announcement on the site and kick-off the capital campaign in early fall.
In the meantime, we need to recruit more owners. If you haven’t joined, now is the time!
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How do we FUND Wild Onion Market?
We will fund Wild Onion Market by inviting our Owners to make an investment in the store. We are close to choosing a location and signing a lease for the store. We need to be ready to raise the capital needed to open the doors and beyond. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create a grocery store that will give back to the community by buying locally, hiring locally, and investing in the communities we serve.
We are working hard to be ready to launch our funding campaign when we announce our site. We will offer preferred shares of stock in the co-op and Owner loans as investment options. We consider these to be social investments which will offer an appropriate rate of return.
The funds we raise from our Owners will reduce the amount of bank debt we need and will enable us to remain sustainable until we are profitable.
Join our team to help plan this exciting stage in our development. We meet on 3rd Tuesday of each month; the June meeting will be TODAY, June 15th from 7-8PM via Zoom. Please contact Mary Meyer (mary@wildonionmarket.com) or Lisa Gordon (lisa.gordon@wildonionmarket.com) for the meeting link, for more information, or to join our team.
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Juneteenth
Wild Onion Market is proud to be a sponsor of Evanston’s Juneteenth Parade and Celebration, which will contribute to the success and safety of Evanston’s annual Juneteenth Parade while uplifting our Black community. Juneteenth commemorates the true end of slavery with the celebration of complete emancipation throughout the United States. On June 19, 1865, federal troops arrived in Texas to free America’s remaining 250,000-plus enslaved people.
Come join us at the Juneteenth parade and celebration this Saturday, June 19th. Parade starts at Robert Crown Center at 11 AM, celebration at Ingram Park 12:30-4:00 PM. More details here.
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Wild Onion Market Events Calendar
June 15: Capital Campaign Committee Meeting, 7-8 PM. Email mary@wildonionmarket.com or lisa.gordon@wildonionmarket.com for Zoom link.
June 19: Evanston’s Juneteenth Parade and Celebrations, 11 AM – 4 PM. See above, and details here.
June 20: Artists of the Wall Festival, 9 AM – 2 PM. Stop by the beloved annual event on the Rogers Park lakeshore between Greenleaf and Pratt. See artist Sofia Sturla painting Wild Onion Market’s mural, visit with co-op Owners and friends. Sturla says she gains inspiration from nature and people. “I draw or paint faces in particular,” she says, “because of our shared human experience that is expressed in our faces and gestures.” See more of her work on Instagram or Facebook.
June 26: Wild Onion Market Meet Up, 10-11 AM. Calling all Owners, soon-to-be Owners, friends, and family! Meet like-minded people, discuss how we can help enhance food justice and accessibility in our community, and enjoy great food and drink. Look for our signs at R Public House in 1508 W. Jarvis in Rogers Park (run by Wild Onion Market Owners, who also own Charmers Cafe). We’ll give you a list of other nearby Owner businesses to check out, like Rogers Bark Pet Salon and Jarvis Square Pottery. Become an Owner at the event, get your hat and swag on the spot! See you there!
June 27: Information Session, 11 AM. Learn more about Wild Onion Market, ask questions, and get to know others during this informal chat. Write michelle@wildonionmarket.com for Zoom link.
July 8: Board Meeting, 7-9 PM. All Owners welcome. Write lisa.gordon@wildonionmarket.com for Zoom link.
July 13: Information Session, 7 PM. Learn more about Wild Onion Market, ask questions, and get to know others during this informal chat. Write michelle@wildonionmarket.com for Zoom link.
July 15: Community Engagement Meeting, 7–8:15 PM. Write ann@wildonionmarket.com for Zoom link.
July 19: Save the date for a virtual cooking demo with Chef Renee of Roscoe Village’s Kite String Cantina! Renee will show us how to embrace local, seasonally available produce to make delicious plant-based tacos. Stay tuned for more details!
Become an Owner at one of our events and you’ll help us reach past 800 Owners by the end of June!
Plus, you’ll get a Wild Onion Market hat…
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FOOD POLITICS CORNER
by Debbie Hillman
www.FoodFarmsDemocracy.net
DLHillman@sbcglobal.net
LOCAL (Chicago metro)
The Food Files (1982)
— 3 short reports commissioned by Center for Neighborhood Technology
— Amazing historical snapshot of the destruction of Chicago’s local food system
— 16 pages total
— Details, link to PDF:
Illinois Food & Farm Resource
Food Files illustration
REGIONAL (Wisconsin)
Michael Fields Agricultural Institute
East Troy, WI
— Monthly newsletter
— Federal & state policy portfolio
— On-site events: great day-trip from Chicago
Michael Fields Agricultural Inst.
NATIONAL (U.S.)
Power of Food: Cultivating equitable policy through collective action
— First-ever national conference for Food Policy Councils (FPCs)
Sept. 20-22
Kansas City, MO
— First FPC founded in 1982 (Knoxville, TN)
— FPCs: food movement’s contribution to real democracy
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Call to Action!
Catching the excitement as you read our newsletter? We, together, own and build our market. Now is truly the time to raise your hand and ask, “How can I help? Where am I needed?”. We, as Owners, can bring together our talents and passion to reach our goal of doors on the store. Have an hour? We have a task for you! Have more time? We will give good direction and promise you’ll feel fulfilled and valued.
You can help!
– Send an Email to 5 Friends – Invite them to find out more about Wild Onion Market. Click here for a sample email to get you started!
– Social Media – Join our social media team! We’re getting a lot of engagement and excitement on Facebook and Instagram. To keep the momentum going and spread the word about Wild Onion Market, help us with writing, posting, or analytics.
– Data Clean-up – Help us clean up our database that houses information for Owners, potential Owners, and partners. We need to get it better organized so it is more accurate and powerful. This work is very flexible and can be done when it works for you.
– Capital Fundraising – As we get closer to starting our capital campaign, we have specific small and large tasks related to raising the dollars needed to fund our co-op.
– Events and Outreach – Love talking with people? Help with community outreach at our events, or send emails or make calls.
– Contact ann@wildonionmarket.com to answer the Wild Onion Market Call to Action. Look for inspiration on the Owner Volunteer Form.
All hands on deck – we need you now more than ever!
It’s the cooperative way – OUR food cooperative!
Email today! ann@wildonionmarket.com
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We are on the move gaining Owners, finding our store site, and fundraising!
Join the excitement!
Questions about Wild Onion Market? Email Board@wildonionmarket.com
Wild Onion Market
http://join.wildonionmarket.com/
-=-=-Wild Onion Market · 6431 N Newgard St, Unit 3S, Chicago, IL 60626, United States
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