Food

Food Issue 2018 | Opinions & Editorials | Politics

Opinion: The Solution to “Food Deserts” Isn’t Just Food

We need to talk racism, segregation, and income disparity, too

by 10 months ago 9 Comments

Kari Black

By now, many of us are aware of the increasing conversation around “food deserts” in Chicago and across the country.  Food deserts are typically defined as low-income areas in which a significant portion of residents live a mile or more from grocery stores and supermarkets. In Chicago, the majority of food deserts are in predominantly African-American neighborhoods lacking accessibility to fresh food options, with much easier access to fast food, liquor, and convenience stores. While a great deal of the momentum that has emerged around the issue has focused on increasing food accessibility, many of these proposed solutions—including the proposal to increase grocery stores in the city—actually operate within the status quo and fail to make structural change.

Activism | Food Issue 2018 | Politics

Witnesses to Slaughter

A group of activists fights animal cruelty one vigil at a time

by 10 months ago 4 Comments

Kiran Misra

At 11:30pm last Wednesday, a group of fifteen people was standing on a street in West Town, watching for the arrival of a truck. They were members of Chicago Animal Save, an animal anti-cruelty group, and they were holding a monthly vigil to protest the animal cruelty that goes ignored in slaughterhouses. Each member was ready to stand until the truck came, which might not happen until four in the morning. The truck would be bringing chickens for slaughter.

Food Issue 2018 | Nature

Stewards For the Land

Some of the farmers behind the city’s newer generation of cooperative farms

by 10 months ago 1 Comment

Siena Fite

Instead of being rural and vast, these farms are a couple-acre lots enclosed by major streets and railway lines. Instead of shipping produce long distances, these farms serve their local, South Side communities. Instead of owning the land, these farmers tend to it with their community in mind. Instead of using a top-down structure of organization, these farms are cooperative, owned equally by the farmers themselves and the City of Chicago. These are cooperative farms, the new crop of urban agriculture on the South Side.

Agriculture | Features | Food | Politics

A Lot to Lose

After the near-sale of a community garden in West Englewood, questions arise about what it takes for gardens on the South Side to stay afloat.

by 10 months ago

Courtesy State Rep. Sonya Harper

How’s the community garden doing?” That’s a question that 6th District State Representative Sonya Harper asks in most of her meetings with the city of Chicago, just for good measure. The city’s response to Harper is usually that the garden is doing fine, and that nothing’s changed.

Food

Room for Community

Why South Side coffee shops offer more than the usual fare

by and 12 months ago

Kusanya Cafe (Amy Qin)

It’s a quiet afternoon at Kusanya Cafe on 69th and Halsted, with a few people chatting over hot mugs of coffee or working on their laptops. The exposed brick walls give the space a stripped-down feel, but with colorful paintings and large windows that let in lots of natural light, the room feels warm and homey. Though the atmosphere and decor are mildly reminiscent of a café one might see in Uptown or Lincoln Park that serves infused lattes for five dollars, a quick glance at the menu hints that Kusanya isn’t a North Side transplant. A grilled mozzarella sandwich named Mozz Def and a ham panini named Ham Master Jay—plays on the names of rappers Mos Def and Jam Master Jay—indicate that Kusanya’s roots are firmly planted here in Englewood.

Education | Food

Scraps to Sustenance

How sustainability organizations help CPS students reduce food waste

by 1 year ago

Courtney Kendrick

When Illinois House Bill 5530 was passed in July 2016 and became a Public Act, many educators and cafeteria workers were unaware that excess cafeteria food could legally be donated to food pantries and homeless shelters.