Greener Pastures: Chicago, Illinois

(Page 3 of 3)

February/March 2003
By John Ivanko and Lisa Kivirist 
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While many smokestack industries and businesses remain in Chicago, companies that reflect a commitment to ecological and social responsibility are taking root. Examples include Shorebank, which offers financial services to underserved communities and eco-enterprises, and Spire Corporation, which manufactures and installs solar-electric systems.

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Interest in organic food and gardening has blossomed in recent years. Chicago is home to more than 25 farmer's markets, including the weekly Green City Market. Community supported agriculture (CSA) also is spreading its influence into the city. Angelic Organics, located north of the city in Caledonia, is one of the largest CSAs in the country, with delivery throughout Chicago. Cabrini Greens, located on a housing project property, supplies organic vegetables to Charlie Trotter's, a world-famous gourmet restaurant.

More than 200 community gardens have sprouted up in the city. The "El Coqui" garden in the Humboldt Park neighborhood was named after a small tree frog native to Puerto Rico, the homeland of many of the area's residents. Once a blighted, vacant lot, this space is now a verdant garden that not only provides vegetables and flowers, but also a living classroom for nearby Von Humboldt Elementary School students. It's supported in part by the Urban Greening program of the Openlands Project, which is dedicated to protecting, expanding and enhancing open and green spaces.

Leading by example, Chicago is seeking to become a place where organizations, government and neighborhoods can join together to renew and restore themselves: creatively, cooperatively and ecologically.

Former Chicagoans Lisa Kivirist and John Ivanko now operate Inn Serendipity in Browntown, Wisconsin, a bed-and-breakfast inn where city folk visit when they need to contemplate the countryside.

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