Local press:

from “McHenry County Living”

The popularity of opening a community-owned grocery is the result of many local residents that want spend their dollars on healthier, fresher food that is produced ethically on farms close to home. Quite a few owners tell us they support the Food Shed since food cooperatives tend to leave a smaller environmental footprint versus other food stores. This is primarily due to local sourcing of goods sold, which means less petroleum-based transporting of food. Since the Food Shed is locally owned and the food it sells is grown locally, more sales dollars will stay in the community versus conventional stores, including the crop of “natural” grocery stores that have become popular in recent years.

                  

WHAT IS A FOOD CO-OP?

The Food Shed is a small part of a large global food movement and one of many cooperatives that have opened in the United States in recent years. Similar food co-op initiatives in the Chicago area include Sugar Beet Co-op, which opened July 2015 in Oak Park. Think of a food co-op as a year-round farmers market where quality control and decision-making is in the hands of consumer-owners instead of corporations.