Chicagoist Grills: Green City Market Executive Director Lyle Allen

By Anthony Todd in Food on Dec 28, 2010 7:40PM

A couple of weeks ago, while perusing the Green City Market at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, we had a chance to sit down with Lyle Allen, the director of the market. We asked him about the future of the market, how they set their policies on local food and what it takes to run a sustainable local market.

Chicagoist - I don’t think our readers have much of an idea of what running a farmer’s market is like! We know what a chef does and we know what a farmer does - what is your job like?

Lyle Allen - It’s a crazy job. I’m the first executive director for the market - I started 3 years ago. At the time I started, the market was in a transitional period. Abby Mandel, who was our founder and leader — really, it was her brainchild creating Green City Market 12 years ago — was not doing well. They were looking for someone to come in and make sure her vision stayed intact. Just coming by today you can see her legacy.

Chicagoist - But they needed a full-time executive?

LA - Yes, someone for administration and development. I am a St. Louis native, a 4th generation owner of a family garden center and wholesale terra cotta business.

Chicagoist - You don’t hear that every day!

LA - We were a foundation of retail development of downtown St. Louis, and from the time I was 2 years old I was helping out in the business - starting mums, raising basil. I started up in that business and loved it. I ended up running the retail end of it, and oddly enough, coming to Chicago.

Chicagoist - Had you been to the market back then?

LA - No. I fell in love with Chicago, and decided it was time to move, sixteen years ago. I ended up overseeing retail development for Ticketmaster. This was back in the day before you could buy a ticket online. At the time, Ticketmaster was a private company, and there was still a family spirit to the business. Through that, I was introduced to a not-for-profit called the League of Chicago Theaters. They were looking for someone to come in and help them run that program, and that’s how I entered the world of not-for-profit.

LA - It’s walking a fine-line between needing to be corporate sometimes as well as maintaining a not-for-profit philosophy and overseeing the integrity of your organization.

Chicagoist - How are things developing at the market this year?

LA - The market itself has just grown by leaps and bounds. When I started, our annual attendance was about 45,000 and this year we will break 200,000 shoppers. We’re really driven by helping our farmers and providing a marketplace that is secure and that they know they can come to and reach a large customer base. It keeps us pretty busy - we’re Chicago’s only year-round farmer’s market, so there is never a downtime.

Chicagoist - What does it actually cost a farmer to get in? What is the “deal” like?

LA - There are different levels, but essentially, a farmer can have a 10X10 tent through the season, Wednesdays and Saturdays, for $850. We don’t take any cut of sales. We collect the fees and the rest of our budget is from membership, donors, grants and our events.

Chicagoist - How do you negotiate with the city for space?

LA - We are lucky to have a good partnership with the Park District - they believe in our market and help us to maintain that partnership. We came into the Notebaert a few years ago and also have a great partnership. They have really helped us continue our year-round.

Chicagoist - Have there been any problems with the winter market? I mean, suddenly you are asking a museum to have thousands of people streaming through who aren’t paying admission.

LA - We didn’t know what to expect when we started. That first market was only 2 years ago. We kicked it off in mid-January. I remember that day, it was 2 degrees. I woke up at 5 and the wind chill was 40 below. We had 25 farmers coming and I was really concerned that no one would show. We started seeing crowds early, and by 10:00 we had 1000 people waiting to get into the market. We got the message that people were willing to support a year-round market. We continue to grow, and it’s been great for both organizations. I hope we give the museum a new market.

Chicagoist - How exactly do you define what is allowed to be sold in the market and what isn’t?

LA - Our mission is about supporting local family farms that use sustainable agricultural practices - that’s what it is about. If a farmer can abide by those practices and preserve the land, we have the market for them. We have requested that by the year 2012, all of our farmers will be certified by a third-party agency, in as transparent a way as possible, so our consumers know that the farmers preserve the land. We need to preserve this marketplace that truly is a green market. We are a leader in the industry, and it brings attention to us on a national scale. If we can make this happen in Chicago, it can be replicated around the country.

Chicagoist - What about everyone at the market who isn’t farmers? Food vendors, products?

LA - All ingredients need to be local - within about 200 miles. What we try to do is the connecting states to Illinois. All of the baking material is locally sourced flour, so you won’t see chocolate and citrus. No one appreciates chocolate as much as me, but that’s not what the market is about.

Chicagoist - Has the size of the market allowed for a different kind of connection with your farmers?

LA - Customers will notice this in the coming months - as the market gets bigger, and the winter market gets bigger, we can offer more produce year round. You will see lettuces and sprouts, and more farmers are building greenhouses and hoophouses because they know they have a place to sell that produce.