Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and first lady Michelle Obama announced several major grocery store chains will be opening 36 grocery stores in neighborhoods around Chicago. The stores will help eliminate "food deserts" in the city and will also help create more than 2,000 new jobs for Chicagoans.
Supervalu, Roundy's Supermarkets, Wal-Mart and Aldi's have agreed to open 17 new locations. Additionally, Walgreens has also decided to expand 19 of its locations to offer fresh food. With this announcement, here are facts about food deserts and the steps Chicago and Mayor Emanuel have taken to reduce this problem:
* According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, food deserts are areas that lack access to affordable foods that make up a healthy diet like vegetables, fruits, milk and whole grains.
* More than 23 million people live in food deserts, notes the Department of Agriculture. These areas often include urban neighborhoods and rural towns.
* Residing in a food desert can lead to health problems like obesity, diabetes and heart disease due to the lack of affordable and healthy food options.
* The Chicago Sun-Times reported Chicago's food desert has decreased by 40 percent over the past five years, from about 632,974 people to 384,954 people.
* Of the nearly 384,000 people, about 124,000 are children and Chicago's food desert lies in predominantly African-American communities.
* Yahoo! News reported that in mid-June, Mayor Emanuel met with several CEOs from some of the nation's biggest grocery chains to discuss eliminating food deserts in the city.
* Food deserts in the city cover the neighborhoods of North Lawndale, Chatham, Douglas, Englewood, Roseland and West Pullman.
* Tackling the problem of food deserts has long been a major goal of Mayor Emanuel, who, during his election campaign, spoke about his plans to eliminate the issue, according to CBS Local.
* The mayor's initial plan involved engaging small and local grocery stories, encouraging communities to plant gardens, and developing public-private partnerships.
* Emanuel's and Obama's recent announcement includes piloting five new farmers markets on the city's west side over the next two years.
* Obama is also encouraging other mayors to follow Chicago's lead to end food deserts in their city's by bringing healthy and affordable food options to underserved residents, reported Bloomberg Businessweek.
Rachel Bogart provides an in-depth look at current environmental issues and local Chicago news stories. As a college student from the Chicago suburbs pursuing two science degrees, she applies her knowledge and passion to both topics to garner further public awareness.
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