Big-box supermarkets, small local farmers around Chicago have struggled to work together

Natasha Nicholes, who owns two farms in West Pullman with her husband, Shomari. (Provided)

Nine years ago, the woman- and Black-owned Urban Growers Collective secured a great deal selling produce from a Bridgeport farm to Walgreens.

At the time, the Deerfield-based drugstore giant was at the vanguard of stores touting expanded fresh food, fruits and vegetable offerings, particularly in neighborhoods considered food deserts — without much access to supermarkets.