Running to the Store (Miles Up North)

"I'm running to Dominick's for milk and bread." "Will you stop by Jewel on your way home and buy some yogurt?"

Common enough experiences, right? Well, that depends on where in Chicago you live. If you're on the North side, no problem. But Pat Dowell, the executive director of the Near West Side Community Development Corporation, discovered that it was a problem for people who live on the West and South sides. Although the population of Chicago is pretty equally divided in half along Madison Street, 56 of the 86 big chain grocery stores are on the North side. This leaves people living south and west dependent on single, small independently owned stores, which often have to charge much higher prices. The big chains get their merchandise in bulk, and they can pass along some of the savings that that brings to customers. So the cruel irony is that the poorest people in Chicago end up paying the higher prices for food.

So a Chicago-based group named Women in Planning and Development recently organized a discussion held downtown about why the neighborhoods in which poorer people live don't have big, chain grocery stores. It seems that fears on the part of the businesses that stores in such neighborhoods will not be profitable is the major factor.

Pat Dowell decided to do something about this. She has gathered data to show that people on the Near West side will happily shop at a large grocery store, and with the savings that they realize, perhaps buy more. She is lobbying hard to make sure that one of the bigger, cheaper grocery stores moves into the retail zone her group is creating at Madison and Western on the Near West side. She's offered valuable advice to the retail giants, suggesting that they tailor their stores in poorer neighborhoods to meet the needs of the residents as well as turn a profit. She already has one success under her belt: two years ago, she succeeded in getting Walgreen's to open a drug store in her area.

It's true that you can't buy peace at Jewel, or Dominick's, or Walgreen's. But when people's basic needs-and few are more basic than affordable food-are met, there's a much higher chance that people will live in peace with each other.

Catholic Connections

"Throughout the scriptures, we hear of an enduring vision of 'new heavens and a new earth' (Is 65:17) where God's justice will reign (cf. 2 Pt 3:12, Rev 21:1). The Old Testament calls us to care for the land and provide for those who need food, especially those who are poor and outcast.

"Time and again Jesus warned us against selfishness and greed and called us to feed the hungry and show special concern for those who are poor. In the story of the Last Judgment, Jesus reminds us that one of the fundamental measures of our lives will be how we cared for people in need: 'For I was hungry and you gave me food' (Mt 25:35)."

US Conference of Catholic Bishops, "For I Was Hungry and You Gave Me Food: Catholic Reflections on Food, Farmers and Farmworkers," November 13, 2003.

Reflection Questions

What other basic services do you think are lacking in the neighborhoods that you know of in which poorer people or people on fixed incomes live?

Join us in our Forum to discuss these questions!