With Local Leaf Farm, urban farming comes to downtown Highland Park

Just a week before Halloween, Stefanie Cohen, dressed up as a big, green leaf, went around Highland Park handing out flyers and introducing people to her just-opened venture: Local Leaf Farm, an indoor, hydroponic microgreens farm and farm shop at 1849 Green Bay Road, Suite 159, in downtown Highland Park

Discussing her venture that marries a sustainable future with local charm, Cohen said, “I wanted to stay true to the local spirit of the neighborhood, so I decided to simply be myself and share it in a way that felt genuine.”

Stefanie Cohen runs the farm alongside her husband, Daniel Cohen. The couple, longtime Highland Park residents, envision delivering neighborhood warmth they grew up with through their business.

Daniel grew up in Highland Park and attended the Braeside Elementary, and Stefanie is from nearby Deerfield. The couple is now raising their four kids in Highland Park, and when the time came to open their own small business, they wanted to look no further than their community. 

While the idea of an indoor farm experience had been in Daniel’s mind for a few years, he said, it was in the past two years that he actively began pursuing it as a business model.

The couple researched retail spaces in the area and found a 3,000-square-foot space at Renaissance Place on Green Bay Road that once housed a Chipotle.

“The spot was just perfect,” he said.

Daniel has an engineering and building design background, but a few years ago, he began working in the field of controlled environment agriculture. This is where he solidified his knowledge of aquaponics, precision irrigation and fertigation, nutrient efficiency, and farming indoors.

Stefanie finished her master’s in education from Loyola and taught middle school for a while before settling into her role as a mother. She is now ready to thrive in her new role as a founding farmer at Local Leaf Farm.

“It is like a farmers market meets a science and industry museum,” she said. “Local Leaf Farm is a place to explore the journey from seed to sprout to harvest, and to taste our wide variety of microgreens. We offer options, including broccoli, kale, carrot, cabbage, cilantro, basil, and unique varieties like popcorn and cantaloupe.

“Plus, we’re growing beautiful edible flowers like marigolds, violas, nasturtium, snapdragon, sweet alyssum and more.”

What propelled the couple to think of wellness-driven urban farming as a boutique operation? They explained that it emerged out of a personal experience.

With their four children (all between 11 and 4 years old), the Cohens were buying a lot of produce — and about 60 eggs a week, Stefanie said. She’d see things quickly spoil and wonder.

“I understood that real, quality ingredients were missing in the market,” she said. “Most of the things available for kids were genetically modified, highly processed, and shipped from hundreds of miles away. This bothered both of us, and we wanted to give better choices to people.”

The couple also say they felt confident that their community was ready for an experience like this.

“Every person can be our consumer; the other day we had a 96-year-old grandpa who came to buy a box of microgreens,” Daniel said.

And, while you may think that the trend would appeal more to a certain generation raised on TikToks touting superfoods, Stefanie said there’s something to spark curiosity in everyone — even elementary schoolers.

“We will soon be having our very first school tour where kids would learn how real food is grown and harvested,” she said.

The Cohens are also making a conscious attempt to make their space as interactive as possible. In December, they will be conducting their first open house, Microgreens Mingle, followed by a grand opening in January.

They also hope to host wellness events, tours, and cookouts with local chefs and dietitians, Daniel said.

The farm and the store have been in operation for a few weeks now, and the urban farmers confirm the response is encouraging.

“People are definitely curious, and the two questions I almost always get are, ‘Where’s the farm?’ and ‘How to consume these microgreens?” she said. “It’s always fun to show them that the farm is indoors, right here in the middle of a busy downtown.

“As for the microgreens, these are such power-packed nutritional leaves that they can pair up with almost anything. I eat them with my tacos, rice, on salads, on meats — everything. I feel some sweet microgreens like cantaloupe would even pair up well with chocolate.”

For the uninitiated, the duo has also put up a free-to-download “Microgreens Cookbook” on their website to give people ideas on incorporating these baby greens in their everyday diets.

While the husband-and-wife team are involved full time, they also have a grower and a farm operation director who oversees everything.

True to the personal nature of their venture, every team member has come onboard through genuine, real-life connections.

“I met Todd Katz, our farm director, at a calligraphy class, and his precise, intricate hand caught my eye,” Stefanie said. “We got talking, and I discovered he is a former environmental science and AP biology teacher and a Golden Apple recipient. We knew we had to get him onboard.”

The wide indoor space allows the Cohens not just to grow their greens but also to have a spacious lab that displays everything from seedlings to the water and nutrient system that sustains their controlled growth.

While the tools and products are there, the Cohens are not considering their own dining space — but they would be happy to contribute.

“We are definitely not going to diversify into a cafe; we want to keep our focus on the farm and the limitless possibilities that this space can offer,” Stefanie said. “I am already meeting so many chefs and restaurateurs and thinking of ways to collaborate. We would love to supply our produce to salad bars or big chain stores.”

The business is already picking up, as Stefanie said that Local Leaf Farm is the exclusive provider of basil for DeNucci’s, an Italian restaurant in Highland Park. The Cohens will also provide microgreens to a 200-guest wedding.

Opening a niche business is a risk, and the Cohens have been taking it a step at a time.

“Daniel is a doer and a dreamer, but I do remember before opening I did talk to him about the risk we were undertaking,” Stefanie said. “He told me, “Let’s grow our first batch; if it works great, and if it doesn’t sell, we will load all the boxes up and distribute them to friends.”

“While it was cute, I knew I needed to be all-hands-on-deck to make it work.”

For Daniel, the mission was worth it.

“We do have co-partners in the business, and I know it’s a massive investment; along with the lease for the space, everything adds up,” he said. “But beyond the finances, our motive is to open people’s eyes towards the future of food. We aim to flip the script on how food is consumed. We want real food to reach people from a few feet away, not thousands of miles away.”

Inside the glass walls of her greenhouse, Stefanie also found a personal sanctuary and a purpose. She spent most of last year caring for her ailing mother. After her mother passed away, Stefanie felt a strong urge to bring this farm into existence as an ode to her mother.

“My mom was a natural-born grower,” she said. “She tended plants with such love. Even today we have in our childhood home trees that she planted, still going strong. When I am here, I feel her with me. I know she would have loved this space, and she would be both literally and figuratively enjoying what we are growing.”

Going forward, the couple plans to engage more with the neighborhood and focus on local, sustainable eating as a collective mission.

“There has always been this unique ecosystem in the North Shore, where people believe in supporting local businesses,” Daniel said. “Highland Park has always had this charming, mom-and-pop spirit. The places I visited as a kid with my parents are still here and still thriving.”

He added, “Whether it’s HP Tops, where I got my first name T-shirt ironed on as a teenager; Ross’s, the old favorite for cosmetics and camp essentials; or Michael’s Grill, the go-to for hot dogs, the flavor of these community-rooted businesses has stayed strong in Highland Park.”

And with their ambitious new venture, Daniel and Stefanie Cohen hope to spread that same spirit of local love in the place that raised them.

The Record is a nonprofit, nonpartisan community newsroom that relies on reader support to fuel its independent local journalism.

Become a member of The Record to fund responsible news coverage for your community.

Already a member? You can make a tax-deductible donation at any time.