Potlucks have a history in South Chicagoland

Vegetarian potlucks began elsewhere in Chicagoland in someone’s home, but some of the homes were on the South Side of the city, according to Mari Lollis, a senior in Harvey.

“We each brought a dish and ate in each other’s home” and listened to speakers, she says. There was no fee. “It was beautiful.”

As the membership expanded, the location moved to other buildings, perhaps restaurants. Eventually the tradition died.

Later as the raw foodist movement grew, the tradition was revived on both the city’s North and South Sides. On the South Side, Terry Anderson and Diane McNeal paid the Hyde Park Co-Op $50 for a room to hold monthly Make Mine Raw events, says Anderson. Admission was a raw dish and vendors paid $25 per event. Eventually they moved to other locations.

“We charged people who came without a dish $10” to cover expenses, she says. “We put time into it,” making the main course, providing food demonstrations by chefs and having holistic speakers. After nine years they stopped. McNeal moved to Arizona, where she met Ariane, who had organized the raw potlucks on Chicago’s North Side.

“We never knew about each other,” Anderson says.

From March through July, Janet Pearson of the Plant Based Nutrition Movement (PBNM) holds a vegetarian potluck at Orland Park Health and Fitness Center, 15430 West Ave. on the second Thursday of the month from 6:30 through 7:30 p.m. Admission is only a covered dish because the center provides the room gratis to the nonprofit; the dish must be salt-, oil- and sugar-free.

“Anyone may attend, but I ask them to RSVP since the room only holds 30 people, she says. “I provide a brief presentation each time.”

The revived Plant Based Southsiders meetup will have its first potluck March 4 from 4-6 p.m. That’s the first day of Daylight Savings Time. It will be at my house in the West Chatham neighborhood. Admission is a covered dish. Please contact me at carmelita@sclveggies.com if you plan to attend. Let me know by March 2 what you will bring and if you bring a friend, what your friend will bring. This will be the first time we can really sit, eat together and enjoy each other’s company. My suggestion is that you bring what you like to eat and a big ziplock bag to take other items home.

• Carmelita Banks

What do you like and dislike about potlucks? Do you participate in potlucks?