7870: Bringing Freshness To Food Deserts.

From The Chicago Tribune…

Chicago partners with Walgreens to bring groceries to food deserts

By John Byrne, Tribune reporter

Mayor Richard Daley and Walgreen Co. officials touted progress Wednesday in the city’s push to wipe out “food deserts” in Chicago.

The Deerfield-based drugstore chain is adding fresh fruit and vegetables at four stores by next week, bringing to 10 the number of such outposts on the city’s South and West sides. Those impoverished areas of Chicago have been plagued by the lack of grocery stores after major chains closed some locations over the years.

On Wednesday, the mayor and company officials toured a Walgreens in the Grand Crossing neighborhood. Daley patted bags of onions and poked tomatoes that will be sold alongside greeting cards and aspirin.

“I want to thank Walgreens for its commitment to making Chicago a better place and helping Chicagoans to live healthier lives,” Daley said from a stage outside the store.

The mayor said he met with company officials last year and urged them to sell healthy food at stores in neighborhoods that lack enough grocery stores.

Food deserts have been near the top of the mayor’s agenda for months. The Pullman neighborhood on the Far South Side is one such area, which Daley pointed out frequently as the City Council was caught in a protracted debate over whether to approve a Wal-Mart there that would sell groceries.

Several aldermen who were reluctant to endorse Wal-Mart’s plans because of its labor practices said they found it difficult to oppose a project that would finally bring a grocery store to Pullman. The Wal-Mart store passed the City Council in June with unanimous support. A second store in the Chatham neighborhood was quickly approved last month, even though some aldermen said there already are grocery stores in that part of the city.

Wal-Mart has said it plans to open dozens of stores throughout the city.

The mayor’s appearance was the culmination of Walgreens’ yearlong effort to bring groceries to food deserts.

The redesigned store, at 67th Street and Stony Island Avenue, will offer more than 750 new food items, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, frozen meat and fish, pasta, rice, beans, eggs and whole-grain cereals.

Separately, Walgreens is launching a trial program with Northwestern Medicine and Near North Health Service Corp. to educate residents about diet and health.

Walgreens launched two stores with food centers last fall, four more last month, and the next four go online next week.