Purpose Prize

Marc Freedman Portrait

The Latest from CoGenerate

Documentary Brings the Beauty of Cogeneration to PBS

Documentary Brings the Beauty of Cogeneration to PBS

A new documentary film, Ink & Linda, chronicles the unexpected friendship between Inksap, a Vietnamese-American street artist in his 20s, and Linda, a white modern dance teacher in her 70s. Shortly after a chance encounter brings these two together, they begin...

Announcing the CoGen Challenge to Advance Economic Opportunity

Announcing the CoGen Challenge to Advance Economic Opportunity

We’re out to show the world that older and younger people can help solve pressing problems when they work together. To that end, today we’re launching the CoGen Challenge to Advance Economic Opportunity, a partnership with the Ares Charitable Foundation to elevate...

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Abby Mandel
(1933-2008)

Chicago's Green City Market
Purpose Prize Fellow 2007

Creating Chicago’s first local and sustainable farmer’s market

For 30 years, Abby Mandel worked as a chef, cookbook author, and food columnist, all the while extolling the value of fresh, locally farmed foods – for individuals, the environment, and small farmers. In 1998, the lack of such fresh foods in Chicago spurred Mandel to create the Green City Market, the city’s only sustainable, certified organic farmers’ market. A nonprofit that operates from mid-May through December, the market features more than 40 sustainable and certified organic farmers, a membership base and volunteer network, plus thousands of regular shoppers. In addition, the market offers major educational programs in partnership with the City of Chicago and the Lincoln Park Zoo, as well as local chefs and “green” organizations. The project improves the quality of food on Chicago’s plates while supporting small, regional family farmers who practice sustainable farming techniques. That helps the environment, too, by ensuring that area streams are not filled with polluted run-off, soil is not eroded by large-scale monoculture crops, delicate ecosystems are not irreparably damaged, and the biodiversity of plant and animal species is maintained. Famed chef Alice Waters calls the Green City Market “the best sustainable market in the country.”