Wild Onion Welcomes Harvest with Open Farms

Their hugs and smiles are as warm as the apple cider in their hands. But they aren’t old friends catching up for coffee or family members at a reunion — they’re shoppers and workers at Wild Onion Market, greeting each other on the morning of the store’s first annual Harvest Festival.

The festival, held on a sunny but brisk Saturday, Oct. 26, highlighted the Wild Onion’s seasonal produce and encouraged customers to strengthen their place in the Rogers Park community. Free samples from local vendors adorned each corner of the store as staff pitched a tent outside the entrance for children to color miniature pumpkins.

Wild Onion, a grocery store located at 7007 N. Clark St., is run as a co-op, or cooperative group of community members. After 10 years of organizing and planning, the co-op finally opened June 12, according to founder, owner and board member Mary Meyer.

Meyer said the event aimed to attract more interest in the store.

“We still need a lot of community support,” Meyer said. “We want the Loyola community to join us. The invitation is out for all the community members to join us because that’s how co-ops are successful.”

The co-op now has almost 3,000 owners, according to Meyer. Ownership has nearly doubled from around 1,500 last year, The Phoenix previously reported.

Throughout the festival, local band For the Birds — whose members are all owners of Wild Onion — softly strummed bass, guitar and a vibraphone in the liquor section.

Chicago Cane Cooperative — one of the world’s first worker-owned spirits companies — ran a booth at the event. The cooperative operates a distillery in Mount Prospect and distributes around Chicago, including businesses in Rogers Park and Uptown, according to Eater.

While Wild Onion is a community co-op, Chicago Cane Cooperative is a worker co-op, meaning its workers own the majority of the company and have an equal vote in its direction, according to brand representative Adam Cady.

“Bringing that democratic model to an economic enterprise is essential,” Cady said. “Cooperatives of different kinds, particularly worker cooperatives, are one of our best shots at a better and brighter future, in addition to the union movement.”

Working together also means working with the community in Rogers Park, Evanston and West Ridge, as well as farmers across the Midwest, according to board member and owner David Oaks. Oaks said Wild Onion sources its fresh, seasonal produce from farmers in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin.

“Those wonderful people drive hours just to drop off fresh produce, which we’re incredibly thankful for,” Oaks said.

The festival also offered a drawing for store gift cards and a fall-themed food basket with pumpkin spice-flavored treats. Beyond hot apple cider, representatives additionally handed out free samples of pear cinnamon crumble cake, seafood products and tortilla chips with three different types of mole.

The tortilla chips and mole — a spicy sauce from pre-colonial Mexico — came from El Molcajete Sauces, a salsa company based in Evanston.

Ernesto Rodriguez, chef-owner of El Molcajete Sauces, said he buys ingredients for the salsas at farmers markets and sells them there, too. Aligning with the organic and sustainable goals of Wild Onion, El Molcajete’s products are all vegan, gluten-free and have no preservatives, according to Rodriguez.

“I love that we are part of the community and the co-op model,” Rodriguez said. “You see where the food comes from.”

Owners who shopped on the day of the festival were given a 10% discount on their groceries, as opposed to the regular 5%. The emphasis on fresh, seasonal produce was central for Wild Onion’s Harvest Festival, Oaks said, especially to prepare for the upcoming winter.

Wild Onion Market is open daily 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Upcoming events can be seen on their website’s calendar.