The internet calls Chicago’s possible municipally owned grocery store ‘socialist’

Photo from chicagosmayor/Instagram

Chicagoans might benefit from a possible historic move by Mayor Brandon Johnson as his administration announces that it is exploring a partnership with the Economic Security Project to open a municipally owned grocery store.

According to the press release from Office of the Mayor, the pitch was presented as a possible solution to a “historic disinvestment [that] has led to inequitable access to food retail across Chicago, and these existing inequities have been exacerbated as at least six grocery stores closed on the South and West sides over the past two years.”

Statistics on how predominantly Black and Latine communities were most affected by food insecurity were also noted in the press release. “According to estimates from the US Department of Agriculture, 63.5 percent of residents in West Englewood and 52 percent of residents in East Garfield Park live more than half a mile from their nearest grocery store, whereas in West Town less than one percent of residents experience this barrier to food access.

Moreover, food access and security link directly to environmental and racial justice. [About] 37 percent of Black residents and 29 percent of Latine/x residents are food insecure, compared to 19 percent of residents overall.” 

The announcement was met with mixed reactions with netizens describing it as “socialist.” Naysayers fear that the possible state-owned enterprise would be susceptible to looting and express doubt over the local government’s ability to run the place.

However a similar project launched in 2018 in Baldwin, Florida seems to have already proved otherwise. The Washington Post reported that the Baldwin Market, a collectively owned and government-run enterprise, was set up because the town was “abandoned by mainstream supermarkets whose business models don’t have room for low profit margins, [so] both urban and rural communities nationwide have turned to resident-owned co-ops or nonprofits to fill the gap.”

https://www.facebook.com/baldwinmkt130/posts/pfbid02tgpcSChd87WkDzrgjdxVdFx8iipS4ngt5zU26LwWm2Z1s1pGwcLyBEvbXjYbij92l

“We’re not trying to make a profit,” said Baldwin’s Republican Mayor Sean Lynch. “We’re trying to cover our expenses, and keep the store running. Any money that’s made after that will go into the town in some way.” And it seems to be working for them. Interestingly, city-run grocery stores have also been running in St. Paul and Caney in fellow red state Kansas.

Ameya Pawar, senior advisor at Economic Security Project, says about the possible project with the city of Chicago: “Not dissimilar from the way a library or the postal service operates, a public option offers economic choice and power to communities.”

Will this move by Chicago inspire more city officials to reimagine the government’s role in improving lives or will anti-progressive fear-mongering in social media prevail?