CHICAGO — A new state program will help fund grocery stores in food deserts in Chicago and across Illinois, boosting equitable access to healthy, fresh foods.
The New Stores in Food Deserts Program will offer grants ranging from $160,000 to $2.4 million to grocers who build grocery stores in food deserts identified by the United States Department of Agriculture. Governor JB Pritzker and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton joined food justice leaders Tuesday to announce the program.
The program is the latest addition to the Illinois Grocery Initiative, established by Pritzker in August in Senate Bill 850 to expand access to healthy food.
The previously announced Equipment Updates Grant Program will provide up to $3.5 million for existing local grocers to update stores with energy-efficient equipment like refrigeration units, HVAC equipment and lighting.
The two programs are a $20 million endeavor to eliminate food deserts and halt grocery store closures, state officials said in a news release.
Interested groups can apply for the New Stores in Food Deserts Program here. The deadline is 5 p.m. May 24. The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity will host technical assistance webinars at 1:30 p.m April 17 and 10:30 a.m. April 23.
“The truth is: too many people live in food deserts, and it’s contributing to an ongoing public health crisis,” Pritzker said in a news release. “This is a first-of-its-kind state government investment — and it will have a significant impact on under-served rural towns and urban neighborhoods dealing firsthand with the struggles of food access.”
Local government, independent grocers and cooperatives with fewer than 500 employees and up to four locations can apply for the News Stores in Food Deserts Program.
The grocery store has to be in a food desert, earn less than 30 percent of revenue from alcohol and tobacco sales, accept SNAP and WIC and contribute to the diversity of fresh foods accessible in the community.
Grant dollars from the program will fund construction and renovation costs for new stores, employee wages, utility costs, food inventory and more. There is a 1:3 award match required from grantees, meaning businesses have to commit three times the grant amount.
One in four Illinoisans live in a food desert, Lt. Gov. Julianna Stratton said.
Encouraging local, independent grocers to boost access to fresh food “is a win-win for everyone,” Stratton said.
“The Equipment Upgrades Program and New Stores in Food Deserts Program are perfect examples of the good government can do,” she said. “Every community — urban and rural — deserves access to fresh, nutrient-dense and culturally relevant food.”
There have been local efforts in recent years to bring more grocery stores to the city’s South and West sides, as a string of big-box grocery stores have closed.
Englewood’s Whole Foods closed in 2022, six years after owners promised to bring fresh food to the community. Walmart closed stores in West Chatham, Kenwood, Little Village and Lakeview with a few days notice in April 2023. Aldi similarly closed stores in West Garfield Park and Auburn Gresham.
After years of work, the Go Green on Racine team of organizers opened the Go Green Community Fresh Market on Englewood’s 63rd Street in 2022.
Ohio-based company Yellow Banana opened a Save A Lot at the former Englewood Whole Foods last year over the objections from many neighbors.
Other initiatives for new grocery stores have yet to materialize.
Yellow Banana was approved for $13.5 million in TIF dollars and another $13 million in New Market Tax Credits and private funding to buy and revitalize six stores on the South and West Sides. Years later, empty shelves and closed stores persist.
Yellow Banana also was approved for nearly $5 million in community development grants in 2023 to open a Save A Lot store near Altgeld Gardens — which has not had a grocery store since 2018. Company leaders have yet to set a timeline for construction.
Mayor Brandon Johnson has said he wants to explore opening the city’s first municipally owned grocery store. No other details have been shared since that announcement.
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