Food Shed Co-op — Local services in Woodstock

As a customer, food shed owner, and a farmer that provides our products to the Local Food Shed Coop I am so thankful and happy the community of Woodstock built this small, quaint grocer. This store is just what McHenry County needed to bring community and local foodies together.

It’s beautiful, clean, and professionally built making it for a pleasant shopping experience. Not to mention they also have a small kitchen with ready-made meals from local producers making for a nice place to grab a bite to eat on the go or sit down for a cup of coffee with a friend!

The employees are helpful and passionate about the mission to feed the community locally produced food. It shows as you shop and checkout.

We also love the products. So many local farms and artisans sell their amazing products here. You can taste the difference as the quality is out of this world. Sure it may cost more than the jewel or walmart nearby, but the most important thing for my family is to eat healthy and support local food. I'm happy to support these local businesses with my hard earned food dollars rather than the other grocers nearby that are runned by large multinational corporations.

Thank you for bringing all these local farmers and producers together into a 1 stop shop.

The best part is this store is a coop. So as an owner, I am a part of the community of other owners that share similar values. Together we have the power to shape the future of the store and build relationships.

Lastly, as a vendor providing our locally raised grass-fed meats and eggs. We have been impressed with the store’s management and staff as we work together on special promotions and events. They always treat us with respect, provide great communication, and pay on time. They are absolutely amazing people that care about their farmers and customers.

All in all, supporting the Local Food Shed Coop not only supports your family with fresh, healthy, quality food. It also brings our community together to be stronger and supports small family artisans and farmers like myself.

I hope you’ll join the cause and I look forward to seeing you at the coop!

The...

Update - June 10-2025

The organic section has flourished since the store opened, offering an excellent variety of organic produce year-round. After overcoming some initial growing pains, the produce selection has significantly improved, making it a go-to spot for my weekly shopping. The store also now boasts a high-quality dairy selection. Lots of local products as promised.

The Food Shed: A New Favorite, but Let’s Keep It Real

Places like The Food Shed are gems—if they know their place. Adding another spot for organically grown food is fantastic. To me, that means fewer chemicals and pesticides, which is always a win. But let’s be honest, once you’ve got a few organic stores on your radar, you start noticing the crazy pricing. I’m no food industry expert, but from Woodstock to the Wisconsin border, there are plenty of great choices, and I’ll go where the prices are best.

Case in point: $6.99 for organic asparagus? That’s a bit steep, especially when I found it for $4.99 the same week elsewhere. And with summer here, local growers are rolling in with their roadside or farm deals. I’m just saying, since I’m no Rockefeller, prices matter. I hope The Food Shed can keep their prices competitive.

That said, it’s a well-crafted space with a charming outdoor eating area. The atmosphere is inviting and makes you want to linger.

Now, about those registers and inventory systems. Watching the poor cashier struggle was like a slow-motion train wreck. She was clearly new, battling a system that wasn’t cooperating, with items not scanning or coming up in search. Painful to watch, really.

Despite the hiccups, it’s good to have another source for organic foods. Here’s hoping they iron out the kinks and keep those...

My wife and son talked about checking this place out last summer and never had the chance, so a few weeks ago, my wife and I drive out to check it out. It was quite a ways away from us. It took us about an hour to drive out to it.

It's a nice place that offers a lot of locally-sourced organic food both meats, fruits, and vegetables. There are a lot of different products than at my local grocer, but the trek is a bit far for me, so most likely will have to shop here once in a great while if I'm out in the area again.

The staff are very friendly and happy to help with suggestions and offer information on where the food is sourced.

There's a cute little area on the right side of the store that offers fresh, homemade soups, sandwiches and maybe salads (not sure about this last one). They do have a section for fresh baked bread with no preservatives, which is great. The one exception is that if the bread is super fresh, the inside of the bad builds up with condensation and is moldy within a day or two, so we saw some interesting options but had to pass due to the condensation in the bag.

Like I mentioned above, it's a cute place that is not overloaded with items crammed in every space of the Co-Op. There's plenty of space, lots of granola in dispensers along with various types of beans, and spices.

If we lived in the area, it would be a go to place for us. Since it is not, we'll have to find other places to fulfill these items...