From the category archives:

Grocery stores

Fresh Moves mobile food market hits Chicago streets

by Cassandra West June 22, 2011 Community
Thumbnail image for Fresh Moves mobile food market hits Chicago streets

In urban communities known as “food deserts,” fresh, healthy produce is often nowhere to be found. Processed meats, sodas and chips, well, those are available in abundance. To improve nutrition and curb digesting too many empty calories, residents in food deserts must have access to more fruits and vegetables. Now, there’s an option. Fresh Moves, [...]

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Shabazz Food Hub connects farms and cities

by Editor May 27, 2010 Community
Greens

A young volunteer at Shabazz Food Hub Market Days By Susan Richardson The smell of mustard greens sautéed in olive oil with garlic fills the air in an auditorium at Betty Shabazz International Charter School in Chicago.  People browse and buy produce and seedlings on a Saturday afternoon. It is Market Day at the Shabazz Food [...]

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Financing Local Food: ‘Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is’

by Editor May 15, 2010 environment

By Susan Richardson From support for supermarkets in neighborhoods with more liquor stores than healthy food choices to efforts to increase the number of USDA certified organic poultry processors, philanthropic organizations are increasingly taking part in a growing movement for sustainable agriculture and access to healthy food.   “This is a time of convergence,” said Karen [...]

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Oscar-Nominated Documentary Tackles Food Production

by Editor April 21, 2010 Grocery stores

By Susan Richardson Food, Inc., a documentary that explores America’s industrialized food system and its effect on the environment, health, and economy, will be shown tonight, Wednesday, April 21, at 9 p.m. on WTTW 11.   The film, which was nominated for an Oscar, examines major issues surrounding food and food production: factory farming, genetic engineering, pesticides, [...]

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Michelle Obama takes on food deserts

by Cassandra West April 15, 2010 Community

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEx3LfKS6RY&hl=en_US&fs=1&] First Lady Michelle Obama says “let’s move” on ending food deserts to make sure everyone in the U.S. has access to safe, healthy food. Find out what is being done to combat these nutritional wastelands on a trip to Philadelphia with Mrs. Obama and U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. Learn more at [...]

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Healthy Food Bill Introduced in US Senate

by Editor April 13, 2010 Green movement

By Susan Richardson New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand introduced a new bill Monday aimed at bringing healthy food to underserved communities.  The Healthy Food Financing Initiative, which is supported by the Obama administration, would invest $1 billion in grants and loans to build more than 2,100 new or renovated grocery stores, corner stores, and farmers’ markets in [...]

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Supporting the Healthy Food Financing Initiative

by Editor April 11, 2010 environment

By Susan Richardson President Obama has set aside $345 million in his 2011 budget for the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, a program that will provide one-time loans and grant funding to increase healthy food options in underserved communities. Read more about the initiative, which is based on a business model from Philadelphia, and what you [...]

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A full-service supermarket for the Near West Side?

by Cassandra West April 5, 2010 Community

Chicago’s Near West Side may be getting a 60,000-square-foot full-service supermarket by next summer if the city’s Community Development Commission approves the plan, Crain’s Chicago Business reported today. Pete’s Fresh Market, which operates six stores on the city’s South and Southwest sides and sells organic products, would construct a new store on the southeast corner [...]

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