It’s Small Business Saturday! Supporting small, local business is part of Chicago Market’s DNA. We’re passionate about supporting local farmers and producers, who in turn support our local economies even further.
In our first round of boxes, Andy Hazzard of Hazzard Free Farm wrote a letter that was included in the grain sampler. The letter starts with this:
- You just supported the formation of Chicago Market - a member-owned grocery store!
- You just supported a woman owned and operated business. 
- It means MORE agricultural land is NOT being sprayed with toxic chemicals!
- This leads to healthier human beings and animals, a healthier ecosystem for ALL of earth's inhabitants.
When we visited Andy’s farm to pick up the boxes for the November sale, there was a stack of lumber piled outside a building on her property. This building was being prepared for her new milling facility. By the time we left her farm THAT DAY, the lumber pile had disappeared and transformed into the framework inside her new mill!
The story she tells around this new building is exactly why we love doing business with Andy:
- The lumber was purchased locally in Pecatonica (Top Notch Building Supply) – and will help keep local folks employed and money in her local economy - allowing it to thrive.
- She employed two local craftsmen to build out the interior.
- The new mill will allow her to produce far greater amounts of flour and cornmeal to sell which means she can then transition MORE land from chemicals and GMO crops to regenerative agriculture. 
- With more sales, she can install fencing so she can rotationally graze her cattle, kune kune pigs and sheep.
- Having animals grazing the fields will greatly increase the soil nitrogen, carbon in the form of organic matter and water holding capacity.
In Andy’s own words…
"Your purchase through Chicago Market means you will receive local, regeneratively grown food - the answer, to ALL of the issues surrounding climate change, agriculture, your health and your community’s health! We live the future in the present.”
SHOP NOW for pickup December 12th to support Andy and our other amazing farmers and producers — including individual items from Hazzard Free Grains, Pecatonica River Honey, Gretta's Goats and Wind Ridge Herb Farm.
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