Blackstone Bicycle Works celebrates 20 years of empowering youth on Chicago’s South Side through hands-on bike education and leadership development. From its roots as a retail shop to its youth-focused programming and advocacy, BBW fosters confidence, responsibility, and a culture of cycling beyond our shop walls.
Create Ease In Your Kitchen Through Preparation
You’ve gotten your market finds and brought them home. Now what?
Storing and preparing food is a connection that needs tending. This is easily achieved when working in a commercial kitchen, as it is a constant state of movement and action to prepare food, clean up, and reset for the next. But the home kitchen could become stagnant because it lacks the volume and urgency of a restaurant.
Here’s a few tips from commercial kitchens that you can use at home to organize and connect with your food.
Green Top Grocery: Growing Community Through Link Match
As a community-owned cooperative grocery store, Green Top has demonstrated its commitment to community health and local farmers by offering organic, locally sourced products from day one. Their participation in the Link Match program has strengthened that mission.
In 2025, we recorded $18,000 in Link Match redemptions, representing a 50% increase over the year before. That translates to over $18,000 in fresh, healthy food for SNAP families and in support of local farmers and food producers.
In the Face of Grocery Store Closures in Rural Illinois, Belleville Farmers Market Persists
Rural communities in parts of Illinois have increasingly faced food insecurity due to grocery store closures. But some grocers and farm stands stay committed to bringing fresh food to their community. Belleville Farmers Market, one of Link Up Illinois’ newest Link Match partners, is one of them.
Get the Most Out of Your Market Produce
I learned how to shop seasonally while working at a butcher shop in Madison, WI. Each week, I was tasked with building the sandwich menu using leftover cuts. I shopped once a week and quickly realized each vegetable had its niche in the prep. Some items didn’t keep well once prepped, so they were best suited to one-day specials or staff meals. Others could be pickled or made into a sauce to last.
Let’s Meal Prep the Way Professional Kitchens Do!
Meal prep on the internet conjures up very specific images of matching containers, measured protein, and eating the exact same meals for the full calendar week. Prep in a restaurant context means getting time-consuming components ready ahead of time so that you are ready to cook.
A New Vision for Illinois Agriculture
For decades, Illinois has pursued an agricultural model built on maximizing commodity crop production. At a major summit in 2013, the Illinois Farm Bureau, supported by the University of Illinois, unveiled the ‘Vision for Illinois Agriculture’—a 10-year strategic plan focused on making Illinois a global leader in commodity crop production. Some of us still recall the excitement generated in the room around the idea of beating out Ukraine for corn sales to developing nations.
Advancing food access on the South Side in partnership with Chicago Cares
From the start, the 61st Street Farmers Market was founded by a passionate group of local volunteers and continues to make an impact in the community with their support. Today, we couldn’t be more grateful to Chicago Cares for bringing an amazing team of volunteers every week to help at the Market and the Hoop.
Savor the Midsummer Abundance at the Market!
Soaring temperatures, punishing humidity, air quality alerts, beach days, and a bounty of fresh, local produce: it must be July in Chicago! Farmers all across the region are harvesting their mid-summer produce, preparing their fall crops, and coping with the weather as best as they can (aren’t we all?!).
Celebrate Summer’s Abundance with Berries
As we approach the end of June, summer is in full swing, and that means berries! At this week’s market, you will find fresh strawberries, red and black raspberries, and blueberries, as well as vendors using them in everything from baked goods to ice cream to vinaigrettes.
Our 2025 Impact
Experimental Station’s mission is to build independent cultural infrastructure by providing essential resources that respond to local needs. Our programs address food insecurity, strengthen Illinois’ food system, provide youth with enriching educational opportunities, foster creativity and the arts, and enhance community wellbeing.
Read our latest newsletter for more on our impact and the meaningful stories shaping our community.