The Chicago Honey Co-Op is Moving and Needs Your Help

By Anthony Todd in Food on Dec 13, 2011 4:20PM

The Chicago Honey Co-op is one of the great local food success stories in this city. Hiding in a vacant industrial lot on West Fillmore Street, they produce some of the best honey we've ever tasted. The manager, Michael Thompson, has also been instrumental in the Slow Food preSERVE garden a few blocks away. After 8 years in operation, the Honey Co-op needs your help.

The land the Co-Op's apiary is on has been sold. The owner has been allowing them to use it practically rent-free for years, but it's time to move - and you can imagine, moving a bee-keeping operation is no easy task. They need help finding a space, making it suitable for beekeeping and moving the whole operation. The Local Beet reports that they are looking for a few smaller plots and that they would like to stay in North Lawndale, but that even a small move is going to cost upwards of $20,000.

There are two ways you can help. First, donate. If you've never been involved in the co-op (and think to yourself: why should i donate to a business?) consider getting involved. They offer classes, host a community garden that is open to the public and are in the process of getting themselves incorporated as a training non-profit. Take a look at their list of "Things we did in 2011."

Let's say you don't want to donate. Fine - go buy some stuff! They have some of the best-priced honey goods around for sale on their site. 12 oz of local honey is only $9, and there are tons of candles, body products and more, all at surprisingly reasonable prices. It's way cheaper than The Body Shop, and it's all local. Imagine how happy your friends will be when they reach into their stockings and find those goodies. Let's help the Co-Op stay around for another eight great years!