photo © Liat Shanan

Do you seek out the "prettiest" produce when you're shopping at the grocery store or farmer's market? Well, you may be missing out -- and making an environmentally unfriendly choice -- if you're subjecting your fruits and vegetables to a beauty contest. 

This is the first in an ongoing series of profiles of Chicago Market Owners telling us why the co-op is important to them. 

We've lost our way when it comes to food. Used to be, we knew who grew our green beans, who raised our steaks, who baked our bread. That's rare today. We're rushing through drive-throughs, clicking a few buttons online for pizza, popping open a bag of whatever. I have two kids and work part-time and it's so easy to fall into those routines. 

I founded Chicago Market 18 months ago because I'm a father.

You're here because you care about what you and your family are eating. You're passionate about who produces your food and what's in it. You shop farmer's markets and read labels.

A food co-op is, simply, a legally recognized member-owned grocery store.