Green City Market
Know Your Food, Know Your Farmer
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Farmer Support
Our year-round farmers markets are centered around lifting up Midwest growers, promoting the environmental stewardship of land and responsible treatment of animals, and building a vibrant market for local, sustainably-produced food in Chicago.
At a traditional grocery store, US farmers only receive around 17 cents of every dollar you spend on food, according to the Farmers Market Coalition. At a farmers market, farmers receive 100% of your dollar.
We believe farmers markets are a powerful instrument of a local food system. That’s why Green City Market is dedicated to creating widely accessible marketplaces for local food in Chicago where farmers can make a living wage.
We operate three physical farmers markets all year round: GCM Lincoln Park (May-October), GCM West Loop (May-October), and GCM’s Indoor Market (November-April).
In 2020, Green City Market introduced a digital marketplace, launching an innovative home delivery and curbside pick-up program: GCM Delivered. While GCM Delivered was developed in direct response to the coronavirus pandemic, Green City Market is continuing to grow this program in order to reach more Chicagoans and diversify our vendors’ revenue streams.
Food Systems Education
We're passionate about educating consumers and the next generation of eaters about where food comes from and why it matters.
Green City Market offers programs, classes, and workshops for a variety of age rages that help Chicagoans of all ages understand that what they eat, cook, and throw away impacts the future of our city and our planet.
Food Access
Increasing access to nutritious, local, sustainably-produced food is one of the pillars of Green City Market's mission — that's why we welcome and match Link (also known as SNAP or EBT) dollar-for-dollar up to $15 per household at all our farmers markets and curbside pick-up points.
Green City Market also runs a food recovery program, donating leftover produce at the end of each farmers market to local food pantries and mutual aid networks.
Where we work
External reviews

Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Area of land, in hectares, indirectly controlled by the organization and under sustainable cultivation or sustainable stewardship
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Farmers
Related Program
Farmer Support
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Green City Market's 50+ farmers sustainably stewarded nearly 3,000 acres of land in Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana in 2020.
Total pounds of food rescued
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Food Access
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
We facilitated farmer donations of more than 6,320 pounds of food to local pantries which translates roughly to 7,500+ meals
Number of people within the organization's service area accessing food aid
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Food Access
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Individuals who participated in Green City Market's Link matching program, where we welcome and match Link (also known as SNAP) dollar-for-dollar up to $15 per household per market or pick-up day.
Number of youth programs offered
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Related Program
Food Systems Education
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
With 70+ at-market kids' programs each season, we're teaching Chicagoans where their food comes from and why it matters.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Green City Market aims to improve the availability of seasonal, nourishing food from local farms, to connect local producers to the Chicago community, and to promote understanding of how food gets to our plates.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Green City Market's core programming pillars include: markets, education, and access. GCM's markets connect 55+ sustainable farmers and vendors to Chicagoans year-round. GCM runs four farmers market locations (Lincoln Park, West Loop, the Park at Wrigley, and the Indoor Market). GCM offers hands-on education programs both at-market and in the community, including Chef Demos, Club Sprouts, the Edible Gardens, and an Edible Education curriculum. GCM matches SNAP/Link benefits dollar-for-dollar up to $15 per market day, ensuring that all Chicagoans have access to the fresh food sold by local farmers. GCM also runs a Produce Box in Bronzeville, an area of Chicago that has historically lacked access to healthy food options.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Green City Market
Board of directorsas of 02/22/2022
Jenn Lejano
Fresh Eyes Digital
Term: 2018 -
Mitchell Weinstein
Levenfeld Pearlstein, LLC
Term: 2015 -
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data