The far south side of Chicago has become an apartheid for food. In the 9th Ward, more than 60% of households live over a mile from a full-service grocery store, which makes it difficult to access affordable, quality food. The West Pullman and Roseland areas have experienced the most closures of grocery outlets, leading to decreases in health awareness and fresh meal preparation, while simultaneously increasing the prevalence of fast-food chains, processed foods, and health disparities.

These interconnected issues require policy changes and community initiatives aimed at improving food access throughout the ward. The Fair Accessibility, Organic Choices, Ownership and Diversity Web, or F.O.O.D. Web, campaign highlights these issues with the goals of shifting narratives about the relationship between food, urban growing, and consumption; creating fair access to food to reduce heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and malnutrition; and forming a circular economy that strengthens community ties as we secure a plan to develop the 9th Ward’s first community-owned grocer or food co-op. This initiative would empower members to ensure access to locally produced, affordable, and healthy food that celebrates the community’s culinary heritage.

In our first year, the food justice campaign has built an active base of 9th Ward residents, businesses, and urban growers dedicated to improving the local food system. We have documented experiences from across the neighborhood to challenge common narratives about access to food, developed food sovereignty education to deepen understanding of food apartheid solutions, and achieved our biggest milestone: establishing the People’s Market, a farmer’s market in Roseland where one had long been absent.

During the summer and fall of 2025, we hosted these collaborative market-styled festivals that brought together community members and partners to strengthen our food system on the last Sunday of each month along South Michigan Avenue. These events created vital spaces for connection and access to fresh resources.

We are now entering the second year of the F.O.O.D. Web, with efforts to mobilize our base for policy change, facilitate political education that empowers our members to shift the collective narrative from scarcity and apathy to food autonomy and abundance, identify funding opportunities for our project, and expand the coalition built through the People’s Markets, comprising residents, businesses, and growers into a sustainable flow of farm-to-table exchanges that support our local food web.


To learn more or get in touch with our organziers, email info@soulinchicago.org.