Write an article about Lincoln Square Zero-Waste Cafe Now Sells Produce From Refugee-Run Neighborhood Farm .Organize the content with appropriate headings and subheadings (h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6), Retain any existing tags from
LINCOLN SQUARE — Produce from a nonprofit farm in Albany Park is now available in the new fresh market at Lincoln Square’s The Eco Cafe.
The Global Garden Refugee Training Farm, 4815 N. Sacramento Ave., helps refugee families grow food for themselves and to sell to local vendors.
Bethany Barbouti, Mia McCullough and Alexis Chavez opened The Eco Flamingo in 2020 and have since evolved their zero-waste general store to include workshops and events.
In March, the trio opened The Eco Cafe at 4756 N. Rockwell St., next door to the general store.
Now, the cafe has started offering a range of seasonal produce grown at the Global Garden farm, including parsley, cilantro, garlic scrapes, lettuce, kale, cabbage and green mustard.
Customers at The Eco Cafe on March 6, 2025. Credit: Alex V. Hernandez/Block Club Chicago
The owners said they have received multiple customer requests over the years to add a fresh foods section. They also conducted a customer survey in April to learn more about what their clientele would like the cafe’s fresh market to keep in stock, Barbouti said.
“It was always part of the plan for the cafe. You’ve kind of got to go into a small business step by step in order to make sure you have enough staffing and time to do it,” Barbouti said. “We’re now opening the cafe on Mondays as well, just so that people can get fresh stuff every day.”
The cafe’s new hours are 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Friday and 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday-Sunday.
A woman tending to crops being grown at the Global Garden Refugee Training Farm, 4815 N. Sacramento Ave. Credit: Provided.
The nonprofit Global Garden farm launched in 2012 for refugee families to grow food for themselves and to sell to restaurants, food pantries, farmers markets and wholesale. Staff and volunteers also help refugees navigate other essential life tasks, such as opening a bank account, Haley LeRand, the nonprofit’s executive director, previously told Block Club.
The farm is just on the other side of the North Branch of the Chicago River from Eco Cafe, so the produce from the nonprofit is “hyperlocal,” which fits into the business’s ethos around sustainability, Barbouti said.
The Eco Cafe’s cafe coordinator Brooke Turner (left) and co-owner Mia McCullough on March 6, 2025. Credit: Alex V. Hernandez/Block Club Chicago
“We’ve turned the front part of the cafe’s storage area into the fresh market. You go through a doorway and it’s a whole new room,” Barbouti said.
The Eco Cafe also offers package-free yogurt, hummus, vegan and dairy cream cheese and a variety of package-free pickled and fermented products, as well as package-free micro-greens.
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