Food deserts plague Chicago neighborhoods. Could the city run its own grocery stores to fill in the gaps?

Maurice Richmond is manager of the locally owned nonprofit Go Green Community Fresh Market in Englewood, which offers ready-to-eat meal options from local vendors, and a deli and coffee counter. He had questions when he learned of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s exploration of a city-owned grocery store. “My first thought was, great,” Richmond says. “My second thought was, ‘How is that going to look?” (Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times)

Maurice Richmond, the manager of a locally owned, nonprofit Englewood grocery and former manager of the Whole Foods that closed in the same community, has stayed in the neighborhood because he believes in providing food access, not because it’s easy.

Go Green Community Fresh Market provides low-cost, high quality options for residents who have seen store after store abandon the neighborhood. The market includes ready-to-eat meal options from local vendors and a deli and coffee counter.