Belli's

Belli’s Opened our doors 1 Year ago this weekend!

A visit from Clemente High School Students

Belli’s introduced high school students to local food, community gardening, and our healthy green juices & Belli Blaster juices in new sizes! We were able to show them how we make our juices without using sugar or preservatives & where our food comes from. All samples were finished before we could get even get a picture of all the juices: teen-approved!

Next Stop: Whittier Elementary Health Fair

We had a great time with volunteers introducing more healthy juice at a nearby elementary school health fair. We were able to ask Pilsen youth about the traditional juice ingredients & compared them with our own juices. Every kid who was able to point on the difference got a free juice!

And Belli’s is now officially ‘compostable’

The Illinois Food Scrap Coalition invited Belli’s into the WE COMPOST program because we practice healthy, sustainable, green business practices at the juicebar!

A lot can happen in one week.

You can be a part of this and support our healthy initiatives.

Stop in for a juice! It’s that simple. Or go one step further,

Commit to a membership

https://squareup.com/market/bellis/membership

*Memberships receive 10% discounts, discounted art classes, & special invites to events this summer at Belli’s!

This weekend we will be celebrating 6 months at Belli’s. It’s hard to believe this project has made it through six months, and that at 26, I’ve only gained a couple white hairs and a few pounds from the stress of opening up a business. In any case, Belli’s is still around and growing because so many people have supported and became involved in this project.

And so as I reminiscence about the past 6 months, those are two features (people, project) that appear to keep Belli’s going, and that keep me along as well.

The many people who have helped Belli’s and became apart of this project…

Isabelle, Zoe, & Nivine who have all helped with the hanging crate design in the window display, with painting and the general layout, and who aren’t afraid to tell me that me choice in guacamole green was a mistake.

Artist Art Olson who made signs for the store and who climbs railings and ceilings to help out with the window messages each month, from “Be Happy Be Healthy” to “Start Fresh” to “Grow Your Own Food”

And these Whitney Young high school students for putting up a garden recently as part of a school project that has attracted many passer-bys…

This stud for helping, and for being Belli’s No. 1 (our first) employee.

Our wonderful Crepe friend Efrain who helps Belli’s with anything and everything, from picking up supplies, to making delicious crepes.

Our recent installment with Nathan from Arize who set up the whole thing for us!

Artist Tatiana Garcia for helping out with 2nd Fridays and for bringing in future artists to Belli’s!

Cole from Cole Mestrovich Designs who made this for Belli’s!

And all the volunteers who helped make our crates from donated, reclaimed wood from RedMoon!

This guy from Urban Canopy, Eric who helped set up the aeroponics system donated by another generous guy, Danny who is growing hemp in Spain!

And we can’t forget to mention Evo from Yvolina’s Tamales who has helped out at the juicebar many of times!

And our favorite day at Belli’s, Sunday… not just because of the weekend, but because of Mariel who donates her time to lead yoga sessions at Belli’s.

This doesn’t include the many community businesses that support Belli’s including our neighbors Dusek’s who used our apple cider in their winter punch, our neighbors at Modern Cooperative who visit us often for juice and other vegan snacks, and the rest of local community who supports this project. There have been way too many good deeds going on here, and we hope it continues, because it shows that if enough people come together, we can really do some great things and change the way business is done to support our community.

And while I think about that past 6 months and the many events we have hosted in our space from underground dinners to workshops on how to raise chickens to nonprofits like Las Caras Lindas who empower women & youth leaders, I also consider how Belli’s isn’t just a business- it really is a project.

This project isn’t about making money and taking vacations on sandy beaches. It’s about bringing a community together around good food- about supporting our local community and farmers- and about bringing greater awareness and access to healthy options and local, fresh foods. The business of Belli’s is selling juice to sustain the bigger project, so stop in soon for a juice and celebrate 6 months this weekend April 26-27th with our first tapped keg of kombucha!

Since Belli’s opened six months ago (in October, 2013), the number one question people ask me is: “What’s your favorite juice?” Of course, I have to be honest: “All of them!” (I did make the menu!)

The second-most asked question is: “What made you want to start up a place like this? Did you always dream about it?”

My answer to this fluctuates depending on the time and day.

Some are shocked when I say it was never really a “dream.” (I dream about traveling, hiking in the mountains, talking philosophy over a glass of wine on the beach, and breakfast.) I never dreamed of owning a business, although I had considered it before.

I’ve often asked myself, “How can I make the most positive impact on society—beyond my own life practices?” And I’ve always been politically engaged, but at some point I came to believe a different approach to combating growing apathy and ignorance about food and social empowerment wasn’t just possible, but needed.

I wanted to make a difference. In 2013 I was in graduate school in Urban Planning and very hesitant to follow through for a second year, as I wasn’t satisfied with the program. I didn’t feel like I was learning anymore, so I was set on dropping out. I had a part time job at Trader Joe’s and didn’t want to think any further into my future as I was content with life there.

Then one day, while doing some harvesting at a community garden, I ran into two friends, Sallie and Siobhan. We discussed my frustration with graduate school and the education system, and afterwards I realized that I felt hypocritical in that environment, reading and not acting. I didn’t want to research any more. I didn’t want to read any more. I wanted to do. And so I did.

So here I am, a 26-year-old business owner, sometimes feeling lost, confused and at times frozen in time as I work down my endless To Do list. But I look around the store, at the shelves of fresh local produce, at the wide range of people from Pilsen and all over Chicago excited about trying new mixes from the Juice Bar and getting involved in our community events, and I’m grateful for that list.

Being able to provide opportunities to those who might not otherwise have them, being able to increase awareness of the injustices in our current food system, and being able to invest in a community by offering healthy alternatives wasn’t a dream—it was a desire for a movement that I feel lucky to be a part of, and I welcome others to take part too.

—Alex

Remember that one day when you first learned to push off on your bike? Probably with a parent nearby? That sense of freedom, achievement, and possibility—it’s unforgettable.

At Belli’s we get the same feeling as we grow our own gardens, and help others learn to grow theirs. Just as some like to build and ride bikes to support sustainable transportation, garden growers push for a sustainable—and fresh and healthy—food infrastructure. Both are inspired by a DIY way of life: both ask, why not do this ourselves, and simplify things a bit? From seed starting (on which we just had an amazing workshop), to harvesting, to the dinner table with friends, growing your own food has immense rewards.

Want a couple tips? Start early: lettuces, spinach, peas, and carrots can stand early spring temperatures and are great for April planting. Start small: for city gardens where space is an issue, begin with smaller veggies.

There are lots of resources out there, including the Chicago Botanic Garden, where we got these hints, and of course Belli’s, where we’re committed to inspiring you about local food: come in and taste what other locals are growing.

Life continues to present its challenges: growing your own food garden is an easy one to meet, and an increasingly important one as we work toward a healthy future. As kids or as adults, sometimes we all need to be reminded: you can do it yourself, you can do it sustainably. We all can.