Hi, Curious City fellow J.P. Swenson here. Now, I don't know about you, but I hate grocery shopping.

The crowds, walking a mile to find the miso paste, I forgot. The checkout line. And especially these

days, the prices. But for some, like Curious City question asker, Katie Hansen, it's actually cathartic.

I personally love grocery shopping. I often visit multiple grocery stores because I just love it so much.

But when Katie shops in Chicago, there's one kind of grocery store she says she misses, the food co-op.

A food co-op is owned by members who invest in it, help make decisions about it, and share

in the small profits if there are any.

Katie was used to seeing co-ops in places like Madison, Wisconsin, in Minneapolis, and was

surprised she didn't see them in Chicago.

So I just was wondering if it was a matter of laws in the city or demographics that would

make Chicago not a great environment for something like that to thrive.

These are good questions, especially since Chicago is such a big foodie town with such an active

local food movement. And Katie's right. We don't have

a lot of food co-op options. But it's not really because of laws or regulations. It's more about

how certain social and political movements played out here. After a quick break, Monica Eng answers

Katie's questions and dives into the history of co-ops.

Then later on, I'll give you an update on some of the co-ops mentioned in Monica's story,

which she first reported back in 2018.

And there's some pretty exciting news.

That's next. If you're already a WBEZ member, thank you.

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