Absence of grocery stores plague South Side

From my colleague, Samantha Liss, comes this story, which can be found in full HERE:

Ten years ago LaDonna Redmond never thought she would become a pioneer for food justice in Chicago. But her son, Wade, was diagnosed with severe food allergies and she was left with no choice.

"It was pretty difficult. I had to travel around to figure out where to get food in addition to figuring out food," says Redmond, who lived on the West Side at the time.

Since then, Redmond says she's been battling the stereotype that African-Americans just aren't interested in healthy foods.

Now, after working for a decade to create access to healthier food choices in neighborhoods with few grocery stores, Redmond will open her own fresh produce store by the end of the month. Her store, Graffiti and Grub will be located near the Englewood and Washington Park neighborhoods.

An initial report in 2006 showed more than a half a million Chicagoans live in food deserts, or areas where residents have no grocery store. African-Americans are primarily victims of food deserts, as the South Side has the largest food deserts.

The original report stated that, "In a typical African-American block, the nearest grocery store is roughly twice as distant as the nearest fast food restaurant."

The 2009 progress report states that the food desert on Chicago's South Side has shrunk by roughly 24,000 people or approximately 1.4 square miles.