COOK COUNTY MARKET

Cook County, Illinois Farmers Market — Buy & Sell Local Crops Near You

🌽 Looking for food grown in Cook County? Backyard growers and small farms around Chicago, Evanston and Arlington Height list it here. Homemade jams, breads and honey are listed right next to fresh produce and seedlings. Posting an ad is free and sellers keep every dollar.

Farming in Cook County by the Numbers

Cook County has 154 farms on 10,281 acres (about 67 acres each). Together they sold $22.4 million of farm products in 2022, led by nursery & greenhouse plants, vegetables and horses.

Orchards and vineyards here grow apples, pears and grapes, and local fields produce tomatoes, bell peppers, squash and cabbage.

36 farms in Cook County already sell straight to the public, about $2.4 million a year in direct sales. Crop Market gives them, and every backyard grower, a free way to reach more neighbors.

Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2022 Census of Agriculture.

Farm Life in Cook County

Cook County farms and homesteads keep 1,340 horses and ponies, 891 egg-laying hens and 110 sheep. Hay, tack and horse boarding are common listings in horse country.

About 329 people run or help run farms in Cook County, with an average age of 54. 31% of them are women. 49 are under 35 - the next generation of local growers. 16 farms earn money from agritourism - things like u-pick fields, pumpkin patches, farm stays and corn mazes.

Where Cook County stands out: it ranks #6 of 93 IL counties for selling food straight to the public.