Photo: Pascal Sabino | Block Club Chicago. Audio: Listen Here.
The Austin Harvest food market in Chicago was brought to life by neighborhood teens who were concerned about food scarcity in their neighborhood and took matters into their own hands. In a series of listening sessions that started after the racial justice protests in June, young people voiced frustrations about systemic racism in their neighborhoods, like lack of access to food year-round. “Food is a basic necessity. But it’s also a basic necessity we don’t have access to,” said Azariah Baker, one of the teens who created Austin Harvest. With $500,000 in funding from Chicago athletes and within a 2-month period, an old liquor store was demolished and the pop-up mart was opened, all based on the ideas of the teens. There are now plans in the works for a brick and mortar grocery store for the neighborhood.
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