In 2015, Closed Loop Farms began in a Logan Square apartment with 9 trays of microgreens, a tired, old Nissan Altima, and a real can-do attitude.Â
A year later we established ourselves as a small, urban farm located inside The Plant in Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood.
We spent the first two years focusing exclusively on growing microgreens indoors to supply Chicagoland’s chefs before expanding to a seasonal outdoor farm.
This outdoor space–originally a gravel parking lot–was constructed by covering the area first with wood chips and organic compost and eventually lush herbs, lettuces, flowers, vegetables, butterflies, bees, and even an occasional cat or two!
In 2020, the good folks at Nifty Hoops helped us build a hoop house to extend our outdoor growing season earlier in the spring and later in the fall.Â
This longer season directly provides more working hours to our team and allows us to offer a wider selection of products to our customers.
From conception, our main focus has been creating reliable, quality work for members of our community and delicious nourishment for our customers.
Today CLF serves approximately 200 restaurants and hundreds of home consumers across Chicagoland, all powered by a close team of 15 employees.
Whether destined for professional or home chefs, all of our microgreens, flowers, and lettuce are grown with care in nutrient-rich soil, harvested and packed by hand using organic practices, and delivered by our drivers in reusable containers. We strive to create a more sustainable, ethical, and satisfying local food system for our community.
