What's Local in Oak Park (soon!)

Answered Prayers

As probably a few people new to this eating local thing are finding out, it's not necessarily easy to find local food in Chicago. I mean it's abundant. At farmer's markets like Evanston, Oak Park and Green City. Easy. Nah. What if you do not live near a good farmer's market. What if you are busy the day it's around. What if you shopped there but forget something (or lost it, like I did with some parsley and thyme). And how are you gonna make dinner tonight if that piece of meat you got is rock solid frozen--worse, what about that local, organic chicken you bought, you have this narrow window between in being thawed and it being spoiled. You need a store to shop at all the time.

Minneapolis has something (God, I love Dara Moscowitz). Grafton Wisconsin has something (Slow Pokes) Soon Oak Park will have something at the expanded Marion Street Cheese Market. My wife and I stopped on at Marion today to pick up some Prairie Fruit Farm's goat cheese for our dinner tonight. My spirits were wonderfully lifted by talking to one of the new co-partners. He told me that as the cheese shop expands, taking space across South Boulevard, the existing place will turn into a butcher, They will be carrying an array of local meat, chicken and eggs. I really look forward to this. Am certainly glad I live in Oak Park.

More to come soon, I am sure.