This essay was selected for the 2022 Vincentian Mission Public Interest Legal Writing Scholarship.

ADDRESSING DISPROPORTIONATE MALNUTRITION IN CHICAGO

According to a 2021 study published in the Journal of Urban Health, an increasingly obese Chicago population is highly concentrated among Black residents. Partially to blame is a lack of healthy and nutritional food options for residents within the neighborhoods where these individuals live. Data from the study found that the introduction of a convenience store, like a 7-Eleven, results in a 0.42% increase in the obesity rate among the neighboring population. Such increases in obesity result from other changes in the food landscape in a particular community, such as the heavy presence of fast food restaurants and a general lack of affordable grocery options. In Englewood, a Chicago neighborhood where nearly 95% of the population is Black, a major grocery chain and provider of organic foods is closing this spring. The grocery store, Whole Foods, recently announced its plan to immediately close doors after citing recent sales losses. Upon the announcement, a recently-established non-profit banded together to promote their mission of providing accessible and nutritional grocery options to the community.

In other communities in the Chicago metro, fresh food “pop-up” grocery stores seek to provide access to nutritional food options where they are otherwise lacking. Such pop-up stores are reminiscent of a more tailored alternative to community fridges, which I previously helped stock in Iowa before moving to Chicago for law school.

The fix for providing accessible nutrition is multi-pronged. Solutions like community fridges, urban farms, neighborhood gardens, grocery stores, food pantries, and grocery pop-ups are part of the solution to offset the rise in obesity, which predominantly effects Black neighborhoods. However, I propose that these supply-focused approaches merely fall into one of three prongs necessary to solving this nutritional food crisis. In addition to providing access to affordable nutrition in food desert neighborhoods, there must be investment in healthy eating-focused education and legislation. A broad solution that appropriately invests in these three prongs of accessible nutrition (access, education, and legislation) is the only way to make a real impact in the obesity problem that disproportionately affects Chicago’s Black communities.

The Problem

57 of Chicago communities have below average access to supermarkets. Of these communities, nearly half of them are predominantly Black. In many of these neighborhoods, fast food restaurants and convenience stores, which provide only high-calorie and highly-processed food options, vastly outnumber grocery stores. Therefore, even a resident who wishes to make informed healthy eating decisions may be incapable of doing so if limited by transportation or time and budget constraints. Studies have verified that inadequate nutrition and obesity results in premature death and chronic disease. Similar to the adverse effects of climate conditions and other socioeconomic factors beyond the control of a disadvantaged resident, Black and minority communities are disproportionately impacted by nutritional food deserts. Lower-income individuals may be born into a community with less latitude to relocate than their affluent counterparts. The idea that immobility, compounded with a lack of investment, disproportionally impacts low-income and minority communities is not a novel conclusion. However, glimmers of hope arise as community leaders rise up to the challenge through nutritional food access for their neighbors. But addressing the issue must go beyond supply and access.

The Solution

Proposed legislation which would provide funding and other forms of assistance for grocery stores and other food retailers that provide healthy foods is reportedly in the works in Illinois. Laws requiring all public schools to offer healthy meals, such as plant-based meat alternatives, have also been passed. Increased funding for SNAP benefits which goes toward healthy food purchases and other consumer-focused incentives may also be a solution. Zoning requirements that limit the amount of fast-food establishments in an area or strictly designate that a space be used as an affordable grocery store may also be effective in providing accessible nutrition within a geographical area. It is my belief residents can compel local legislators and city officials to take action to ensure that all Chicago residents have equal access to nutritional food options, regardless of where they live.

In addressing the issue of food security, the prong which I propose is most lacking is education. Just as an informed resident who has no nearby nutritional options is powerless to achieve healthy eating habits, a parent who knows no other alternative may choose a happy meal for their child over an affordable, homemade meal. A parent may be oblivious to fast food alternatives such as, for example, filling corn tortillas with onion, cilantro, radishes, black beans and taco meat—all at a reasonable price and with leftovers to spare. I understand that often a working parent is faced with time or budget constraints, and must rely on quick meals prepared by someone else. However, we must at least give all parents and children the information necessary to make choices about the versatility, accessibility, and costs of certain fresh fruits, vegetables and other healthy alternatives.

For a child, exposure to food options informs tastes later in life. Think of the first time you had an avocado. Or kale. Or kiwi. You may not remember now, but somewhere along the line you were introduced, and may have ended up continuing to buy and consume that food. You might have avoided such a thing your entire life simply because you weren’t sure if you’d like it and only had so much money to spend at the supermarket each time. Or, perhaps you avoided it because you never saw it where you bought groceries, and when finally presented the opportunity, you wondered whether it was good or how it could be prepared. I believe that a parent raised in a neighborhood with minimal access to nutritional food may bring up his or her child, feeding them only what they know is regularly accessible and fits their budget. There is nothing wrong with this approach whatsoever, but I think we can do better to help inform that parent or child.

I recognize that I am speaking from a position of privilege. I am white. I was raised in a small middle-class community in Iowa with a decent grocery store. But, I was raised on a diet of red meat and high-carb sides. That is what my parents ate. That is what my neighbors ate. That is what was accessible and affordable in my community. It took some education and experimentation to realize what I could do in an oven with curly kale, olive oil and a little salt. These ingredients were almost always around, I just didn’t know.

Now more than ever, as my metabolism slows and my law school debt grows, eating semi-healthy on a budget is important. I wish I could share all of my affordable cooking tips with everyone I know struggling to stretch a budget without relying too heavily on frozen meals and fast food. If a young adult, or child, demonstrated to their parent that someone taught them what a wide array of healthy foods tastes like, where they can be found near home, and how they can be paired together on a budget, a parent might be inclined to make more informed choices after looking at an empty fridge and a light wallet. Then, once that child grows up and resides in the same neighborhood, they can practice a life of healthy cooking and eating habits for their own children.

So, when it comes to eliminating obesity and malnutrition among Black neighborhoods, what does education look like? Perhaps it looks like a food truck that visits an elementary or high school on Fridays. One of my favorite, thriving Iowa food trucks prepares healthy but tasty meals at a decent price, which may just be within a public school’s food budget. If a high schooler tried some melted cheese on a pile of roasted root veggies, they might be inclined to push for carrots, beets, parsnips and sweet potatoes next time they went grocery shopping with a parent or sibling. A simple school lunch program might also offer such occasional healthy options as sides or main courses, coupled with an “about” snippet on the scrolling school cafeteria menu. Outside of a school setting, imagine a vivid fast food billboard strapped to an apartment building that instead showed a steaming heap of broccoli or an ear of corn, endorsed by a favorite athlete, rapper or TikTok icon. I’m sure there are some great advertising ideas to be tested, and I know marketers have prevailed in reaching today’s youth on less important topics.

The primary focus must be on exposure to healthy, affordable ingredients for a growing generation destined for obesity. Perhaps the community has failed their parents when it comes to food access, but I think it’s possible to make a change in the children’s eating habits. Education, coupled with appropriate legislation and importantly: access to healthy food choices in one’s neighborhood, could have a great impact on curtailing the disproportionate rise in obesity and malnutrition among Black and low-income Chicagoans. I applaud the efforts that have focused on producing and making available healthy food for residents on a budget. Access is crucial! I only argue that those efforts are counteracted by a lack of educational resources, funding, and legislation that prioritizes the health of every single resident, not just those who live in a burgeoning retail environment suitable for a Whole Foods.

How can it be that access to nutrition is not a universal standard in our communities? We must step up in Chicago and become a model for success—and not just by making healthy food easily available to everyone, but by letting people know where to find it.