Abbie Hoffman - Steal This Book

A good place to pick up free vegetables and fruits is at the wholesale market on Randolph St. or S. Water St. on Friday afternoons. Many of the food factories such as Kraft Dairy Products give away free samples and cases for “charity.”

Check them out.

It is possible to steal food from the 2nd floor Federal Building Cafeteria at Adams and Dearborn and the National Cafeteria at Clark and Van Buren. These cafeterias usually have long lines and you can eat while standing and just pay for the coffee.

If you have a place to cook and store food, there are a few places that have pretty cheap food. The east gate of International Harvester, located at 1015 W. 120th St. is unbelievable. Dig these bargains! 10 pounds of T-bone steaks (boxed) for $5.25 at midnight. at 4 PM, the produce man brings a different combination of goods. A typical bill of fare might include tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, etc. at $1.00 for 10 pounds of any item. The produce might vary from day to day, but the prices stay the same. On Thursdays at noon and 4 PM, the Lennell cookie man comes around. It’s $1.25 per box. At 7 PM, the sausage man arrives and the standard price is $2.00. The standard size is 3 to 5 pounds.

He has salami, liver sausage, polish sausage, and usually odd lunchmeat such as bologna or summer sausage. All the food is sold out of trucks, and the prices might not be exact, but they’re pretty close.

Eggs are about 3 dozen for $2.00 on Randolph west of Halsted. Orange juice is pretty cheap at the Del Farm on Broadway. Wonder Bread thrift store on Diversey; Butternut, 87th St. and Ridgeland and 1471 W. Wilson, and Silvercup, 55th and Federal, offer bread and rolls at big discounts. The Cicero Bottling Company at 31st St. and 48 Court sell a case of 12 quart bottles for $2.00.

Mamas Cookies, 7400 S. Kastner give 5 pounds for $1.50. At Burhops, State and Grand, you can get cheap 5-pound boxes of steak. The Railroad Salvage around Madison and Halsted has dented cans (with stuff inside) for big discounts. It is also a good place for paper products. Campbell Soup, 2250 W. 55th St., open Tuesday and Thursday, will give you cases free or at discounts if you tell them it’s for charity or look straight. Two good spots for all around shopping are the Hi-Lo on Lincoln, north of Irving. There’s lots of stuff for 10 cents. Marathon Products at Randolph and Halsted is another good place.

If you can survive on just one meal a day, you’re set. The city has just opened 14 free lunch centers throughout the town. They are located at:

• Antgeld Urban Progress Center-967 E. 132nd St.

• Area II Multi-Service Center of DHR-1500 N. North Park

• Division Street Urban Progress Center-1940 W. Division

• DHR Woodlawn District Office-6317 S. Maryland

• Englewood District Office of DHR-6003 S. Halsted

• Garfeld Neighborhood Service Program-9 S. Kedzie

• Halsted Urban Progress Center-1935 S. Halsted

• Lawndale Urban Progress Center-3818 W. Roosevelt

• Madden Park Fieldhouse-500 E. 37th St.

• Martin Luther King Urban Progress Center-4741 S. King Drive

• Montrose Urban Progress Center-901 W. Montrose

• North Kenwood CCUO Office-4155 S. Lake Park

• South Chicago Urban Progress Center-9231 S. Houston

• Southern District DHR Office-2108 E. 71st St.

The free hot meals consist of meat, potatoes, a vegetable, dessert, fruit, and coffee or milk. You have to give them a name and an address.

All three major universities have excellent clinics that do most kinds of medical work for free. The University of Chicago maintains a clinic at 950 E. 59th St. The University of Illinois has one located at 840 S. Wood. In addition to good medical care, Northwestern University Clinic offers very cheap dental treatment. The clinic is at 303 E. Chicago. Call the main switchboard of the schools and ask for the clinics to check out services and hours.

A V.D. clinic is open every weekday and late on Wednesdays at 27 E. 26th St.

and N. North Park. Chronic diseases are treated at 2974 N. Clybourn. Free chest X-rays are available at City Hall downtown, everyday. For mental health problems, try the clinic at 1900 N. Sedgwick (642-3531).

Drug education is offered by Earth Mother on Wednesdays at the Grace Church, 555 W. Belden. Information and help with bad trips can be obtained through Just Us, 61 N. Parkside (378-7618) or LSD Rescue Service, 7717 N. Sheridan (338-6750). Chicago has a number of good clinics maintained by movement and community groups spread throughout the city for the people that live in the area.

The Black Panther Party runs the Spurgeon “Jake” Winters Free People’s Clinic at 3850 W. 16th St. (522-3220).

The Young Patriots Uptown Health Service located at 4408 N. Sheridan (334-8957) serves the people in that community. The Young Lords maintain the Dr. E.

Betances Free People’s Health Center at Peoples Church, 834 W. Armitage (549-8505). The Latin American Defense Organization has a clinic on 2353 W.

North Avenue, (276-0900). The growing Student Health Organization administers a number of small clinics in various communities. Call them at 493-2741 or drop into their office at 1613 E. 53rd St. At the Holy Covenant Church, on Wilton and Diversey, you can get medical assistance at the Free People’s Clinic as well as help with legal, housing, family planning and nutrition problems. Call 348-6842.

All these clinics provide a variety of services and operate on different schedules.

Call them first to be sure they are open.

Chicago has a number of good law schools and you can often get some assistance or referral by calling them and speaking to the editor of the law school paper. You can go to the bathroom for free in the Julius J. Hoffman Room at Northwestern University Law School.

The Law Student Commune, 357 E. Chicago, 649-8462, is a group of young radical lawyers and law students trying to bring legal assistance into the streets.

The People’s Law Office 2156 N. Halsted, 929-1880 operates the same way. For community problems, call the Lincoln Park Rights Center, 525-9775, or the Community Legal Counsel, 726-0157. The ACLU maintains a large chapter in Chicago at 6 S. Clark, 236-5564, and handles cases where civil liberties are affected.

• American Friends Service Committee—407 S. Dearborn St. 427-2533

• Austin Draft Counseling Center—5903 Fulton 626-9385

• Chicago Area Draft Resisters (Cadre)—519 W. North Ave. 664-6895

• Chicago Circle Draft Information Organization University of Illinois, 317 Chicago Circle Center 663-2557

• Hyde Park Draft Information Center—Quaker House, 5615 S. Woodlawn Ave. 363-1248

• Kennedy King Draft Counseling Center—7047 S. Stewart—488-0900, ext. 36

• Lawndale Draft Counseling—4049 W. 28th St. 277-3140

• Loyola Draft Counseling Center 6525 N. Sheridan, 274-3000 ext. 378

• Mandel Legal Aid Clinic—6020 S. University Ave. 324-5181

• Ravenswood Draft Counseling—Barry Memorial Methodist Church, 4754 N. Leavitt 784-3272

• Roosevelt Selective Service Counseling Organization—Roosevelt University Student Senate Office, Rm. 204, 430 S. Michigan Ave. 922-3580 ext. 334

• South Side Draft Information (Mt. Carmel Book Dist.) 2355 W. 63rd St. 925-3686

• Uptown Hull House Draft Information Service—4520 N. Beacon St. 561-8033

• Wellington Avenue Congregational Church Draft Counseling Center—615 W. Wellington Ave. 935-0642.

Lincoln Park stretches along Lake Michigan in the Northern section of the city. It has a Conservatory and Zoo, opened 9 AM to 5 PM. Just south of the zoo is the gathering place for free rock concerts, be-ins, and the like. There is also a zoo in the Brookfield section at 8400 W. 31st St. The Morton Arboretium located on Route 53 in Lisle is open every day till sunset. The Shedd Aquarium is located at 1200 South Lake Shore Drive at Roosevelt.