True Nature Foods makes it easy to be a locavore

You can’t miss the motto “Buy fresh, buy local” plastered across the city from billboard to bumper. The locavore movement advocates buying locally grown and produced goodies instead of those shipped from Jamaica, packaged in Toledo, and sold finally at your local store. This fuzzy-green trend is spotlighted in a variety of Edgewater/Andersonville shops, especially True Nature Foods, which boasts a wide array of organic and natural products, including locally grown produce.

True Nature Foods, whose mission as listed on their website is to gain “control of our food sources in the hands of the people,” values working with local farmers and the common interests of their customers over the bottom line. This organic community market works with two independently owned and operated farms: Wisconsin-based Kings Hill Farm and Family Farms, based out of Michigan. They also work with local vendors like Chicago Soydairy, Coalition Cafe, Veggie Dance, Mu Tofu, and Shrooms Kitchen. While the cost of the foods sold from indie farms is a tad more than some of the mass-produced and over-injected varieties sold at unnamed grocery conglomerates, the upshot is you can trust that your meat and dairy products are free of hormones and antibiotics.
 

 

Aside from local produce and poultry, True Nature Foods also stocks its shelves with organic, vegan, and gluten-free options. From honeys to soaps to spices to grind-it-yourself peanut butter, the shop is packed with products for the conscientious shopper. Pick from a wide array of earth- and pet-friendly cleaning products and pet supplies, too. The newest attraction in True Nature Foods is the juice bar, which offers juices like the Blood Tonic that mixes up celery, parsley, cucumbers, and beets into a tasty blend. Juices are $4 for a 9 oz and $5.50 for a 16 oz. Smoothies, soups, and sandwiches are also on the menu.
 

True Nature Foods also hosts a fresh and local food market every Saturday from 7 a.m. to noon beginning the first week of July and ending the last week of October. The outdoor market offers fresh produce from local farmers, organic breads, honeys, and other odds and ends. You’re in luck, apple season started only a couple weeks ago, so you have four good apple buying weeks left to take advantage of the juicy varieties.

Some other fun facts about True Nature Foods:
• They have a Rooftop Victory Garden! Urban Habitat Chicago turned the rooftop at True Nature Foods into a garden that has successfully harvested basil, green beans, eggplant, buckwheat, tomatoes, zucchini, thyme, and many more varieties. The Rooftop Victory Garden not only yields produce, but it also reduces the “urban heat island”, absorbs and filters rainwater, attracts beneficial insects, and insulates and moderates temperatures in the building below.
• They offer a co-op! True Nature Foods provides a co-op service with Farmer Tom’s CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), which offers a weekly service that provides a box of organic fruits and veggies for $22 for a half share and $33 for a whole share.
• They accept recyclables! True Nature Foods accepts recycling in their Edgewater recycling center located behind the store. Just drop off your recyclables through the slot in the fence located along Norwood.
 

Sustainability is the principle behind the locavore trend. As more businesses like True Nature Foods switch to locally-grown and produced foods--and more customers demand these products--the closer we come to a sustainable existence. True Nature Foods is open Sunday through Thursday 10 a.m.to 7 p.m., Friday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Saturday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. It’s located at 6034 North Broadway, Chicago, IL 60660 at the corner of Broadway and Norwood.
 

Visit their website at: www.truenaturefoods.com