Beer, coffee, tea, spices, cheese, honeybees, a mushroom lab, hydroponics, aquaponics, ice, ice cream, chocolate. What do all of these things have in common? For starters, they can all be found at The Plant, a 93,500 sq. ft. facility that houses small businesses in a collaborative environment on the South Side of Chicago. As of…

Stuart Wagenius’ eyes light up when he describes the dozens of species of bees native to a prairie in Western Minnesota where they pollinate  purple coneflowers, Echinacea angustifolia. He only lists a few for the sake of time, but the excitement in his voice says he could go on much longer. The excitement dwindles, however,…