(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration is examining the idea of creating a municipally owned grocery store that would serve an area of the city where fresh groceries are not readily available to residents.
The city will partner with the Economic Security Project, a not-for-profit that will consider ways to make the project happen, the mayor’s office announced Wednesday.
"A public option for groceries could be transformational for communities that are 'food deserts,'" Ameya Pawar, a senior advisor for the organization, said. "And most of the communities that are food deserts are simultaneously banking, broadband, housing, childcare -- every kind of desert simultaneously."
If it becomes a reality, Chicago would be the first major city in the United States to establish a municipally owned grocery store, Johnson’s office said.
The administration, citing U.S. Agriculture Department statistics, say most residents in West Englewood East Garfield Park live more than half a mile from their nearest grocery store. In contrast, less than 1% of residents in West Town experience such a barrier to food access.
Listen to our new podcast Looped In: Chicago
Listen to WBBM Newsradio now on Audacy!
Sign up and follow WBBM Newsradio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram