Earlier this month, Letisha “Tish” Steele (they/she) started her role as executive director of Green City Market. Originally from the Appalachian Mountains and most recently from Denver, Steels “brings a bold, community-centered vision to GCM’s mission of building a more sustainable and equitable local food system,” according to a press release.
During a recent conversation, Steele discussed their very personal reason for moving to the Midwest, the importance of food accessibility and much more.
Note: This conversation was edited for clarity and length.
Windy City Times: How are things going?
Tish Steele: I’m doing okay. I’ve only been here a week so I’m learning the traffic and streets. My partner lived here about 12 years ago, when she was here for quite a while doing the singer/songwriter/restaurant stuff—so she’s really familiar with it. I had been here for four visits before moving, and I’m in love with the city.
WCT: Well, that’s good to know. You’re from Denver. What made you look at Chicago in the first place?
TS: [Laughs] Originally, I’m from the Appalachian Mountains—coal country between West Virginia and Virginia; I then moved to Colorado. What brought me to Chicago? Well, it was not anticipated. My partner and her family are all from the Williams Bay area of Wisconsin. Of course, being a queer person growing up in that area, I don’t think she ever felt fully accepted. But her family, since we’ve been together for the past six years, has been so welcoming and lovely—and that’s been a really beautiful thing. So we had been finding ourselves coming back and forth a lot.
We bought a cabin at Lake Como; we call that place “Lake Homo.” [Laughs] A number of our queer friends have moved there, too, which is great. Then I saw this great opportunity at Green City Market (GCM)—and what I loved about everything I had researched was that it’s really committed to supporting a local circular food-system economy and giving back to farmers. GCM is really passionate about food access and tripling food bucks. [Note: Green City triple-matches Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits (also known as Link in Illinois or EBT nationally) at all its farmers’ markets.] There’s also the education piece it offers through Club Sprouts. And I love that the market is for everyone.
I come from a very strong food-access/social-justice background, so I love that. I applied and I think what made it easy was that I wasn’t looking for another job; I was happy at my organization in Denver. But there was this thing in the back of my head that knew how my partner thrived when she’s around her family; she has 16 nieces and nephews, and they all love us. Denver is great but it has a different vibe; not having that family connection, I thought that I’d love to see us be closer to family. At first, my partner [wasn’t sure], but the more she thought about it, the more she said, “My closest friends and family are all in that Chicago/Wisconsin region. It’s lovely.”
WCT: It was nice of you to think of your partner like that.
TS: Thank you! I also really like it here, too. I never thought I’d move to the northern Midwest; I’m frightened by the cold but I have a big, warm coat. And there’s such a lovely queer community here, and it’s really cool to be around that.
WCT: Whenever I think of you in the future, I’m going to think of “Lake Homo,” by the way.
TS: [Laughs] I’ll make you a hat. I have made T-shirts, so visitors get that and a beer koozie. You’re getting to know me.
WCT: You’ve mentioned food equity. How would you define it?
TS: I look at food and nutrition equity as having access to the food that give you joy and nutrition, that give you a sense of home and community—and being able to afford it. That you’re not having the barrier of living in a neighborhood with food apartheid. Economical access to the foods that you want is very important. I want that being accessible to everyone. There are so many communities that we don’t see that are lacking in nutritional security—and it’s our job, as humans, to make sure they have access. That’s such a basic building block to becoming self-actualized.
Previously, I had worked as a chef in restaurants from Appalachia to Maui to Colorado. When my dad passed of suicide, I realized that I really pushed this connection that I had to my upbringing down so I could move past the trauma of living in an impoverished area like coal country. I just wanted to get back to my roots, so I jumped into the nonprofit sector. It was also around that time that I came out, so [aspects] really collided, and I got to be my authentic self. In a lot of ways, I look toward food sovereignty to people having access to the foods that work for them. Food is inherently the first thing that’s taken away when folks are trying to assimilate people.
Where I grew up, they had “commodity boxes” that we would pick up from church—similar to what a lot of indigenous communities get on reservations. The boxes would come with things like cheese, potato flakes, condensed milk—things that are just supposed to get you through but not really sustain you.
WCT: I know you’ve only been in Chicago a short time, but how would you compare/contrast the market scenes here and in Denver?
TS: I haven’t been to a lot of markets here, but I want to get more involved in that. But the turnout and the space here—and what I really love about Green City Market that it involves local farms. Everyone’s looked at to make sure they’re using sustainable practices, that they’re third-party certified, that there’s food accessibility. And we’re not looking to bring in corporations; everything’s centered around Lake Michigan. In Colorado, you have some local farms but there doesn’t seem to be that big piece that’s pushed about local equitable sustainability.
WCT: What’s your vision for Green City Market? Where would you like to see things, say, a year from now?
TS: I would love to see us open a year-round brick-and-mortar that starts out small; I know it’s been talked about in the past. Also, I’d really like to see it open in an area of the city that’s an area of opportunity—and also be a place where people can gather. Maybe we could hold community events and classes—make that pipeline where farmers can sell year-round but also have a piece that accessible for everyone.
WCT: I’ve gone to other cities, like Philadelphia, that have these huge year-round markets. I’ve wondered why Chicago doesn’t have one.
TS: Exactly. We need one year-round because it gets pretty chilly.
WCT: “Pretty chilly.” You have a penchant for understatement. [Steele laughs.] With it being Pride Month, I thought I’d ask what queer representation means to you.
TS: It means that you just see folks in the community who are doing the same jobs and have the same rights as everyone else. I know, from experience, that having someone from the queer community in a position of leadership is a rarity, still. I have a friend—a younger Black trans woman who’s a manager in the nonprofit sector—and she told me that she’s the only one of her friends who has that type of position.
So queer representation, to me, means that we can live our lives and that there’s equity across the board—that we can live with our partners and that we don’t have to be scared. There are places where I feel comfortable holding hands with my partner, and there are places where I don’t.
Honestly, I love this younger generation of queers who say, “See me and acknowledge me.” That’s not how I was raised. I was in the closet until I was almost 40. [Steele is 51.] I was afraid that I would lose friends and job opportunities. But to come out and have so much support from young people is just incredible. I am loving this generation. I can only imagine what my life would be like if I were in second grade and saw Chappell Roan on MTV. I’m so excited to experience the queer community in Chicago.
WCT: Is there anything you wanted to add?
TS: We have our big event, Chef BBQ, coming up on Sept. 4. This is going to be my first big event with Green City Market; I can’t wait to connect with folks and hear what everybody loves about the city and market.
To find out more about Green City Market, visit this link.