Food deserts continue to plague Chicago

And i know a fine thing when i see it.
See it!
For the same reason no one ever
Pointed a telescope at the sun
The Clash, Red Angel Dragnet, 1984

In 2006, the Chicago City Council, at the urging of organized labor, passed a law that effectively placed higher wage requirements on "big box" stores such as Wal-Mart and Target. Both are non-union retailers, and the left, trying to achieve through legislation what it is unable to accomplish through fair elections (meaning secret ballot), and negotiation, coaxed the Council to install a "living wage" ordinance on the big boxes.

Mayor Richard M. Daley did the sensible thing, he vetoed the bill--using that power for the first time since he was elected in 1989.

Wal-Mart in particular draws the ire of the left--the leadership of the retail king has a history of being friendly to the Republican Party.

Chicago's City Council has a duty to the citizens of America's third largest city--it needs to act in their best interest. And the "living wage" bill would not have done that.

More Wal-Marts and Targets are needed in Chicago and other large cities. Why, because of something I've blogged about before: Food deserts.

From CBS 2 Chicago:

Many people in Chicago take for granted that they can run a quick errand and pick up fresh fruits and vegetables in their neighborhood. Half a million people here cannot do that because they live in what's called a "food desert" -- an isolated area with no major grocery stores, but a lot of fast food, on practically every corner.

That describes the poorest parts of Chicago--the West and South Sides.

More from the same article:

"If you live in these communities you're more likely to suffer from hypertension, diabetes, certain kinds of cancers, so it's very serious," said Mari Gallagher of MG Research and Consulting.

MG Research looked at all 18,000 blocks in the city. The study found that fresh fruits and vegetables are very difficult to find in food deserts because the major grocery stores fled the inner city. "I'm embarrassed, outraged," said Congressman Bobby Rush. "You can buy French fries, but you can't buy fresh potatoes. You can get ketchup, but no tomatoes. Something is wrong with that."

Well he's right about that.

And finally:

The city hopes to lure independent, medium-sized stores to the grocery deserts. With childhood obesity reaching the epidemic stage, time is critical. And studies show that healthy eating promotes better learning.

Medium-sized supermarkets would be an improvement. But Safeway-owned (and unionized) Dominick's closed a dozen such stores in Chicago in late 2006, and only the big boxes seem to want to put down stakes in the food deserts. And despite the veto of the "living wage" ordinance, the City Council, which has to approve the necessary zoning changes to allow even medium sized grocers to expand in Chicago, remains hostile to Wal-Mart and the big boxes.

And the food deserts remain.

Oh here's some irony. Hyde Park, where Barack Obama lived until he bought (with some help) that Kenwood Mansion, was identified by MG as a food desert. It may not be now, because the unionized Hyde Park Co-op closed down, and was replaced by the Treausure Island chain, which decertified its union last year.

Obama, who may be the next president of the United States, is a foe of Wal-Mart, the world's largest corporation.

Very troubling.

Final thoughts. I'm not advocating the companies pay their employees less as a rule. But for Wal-Mart, Target and the like to make money, and continue to hire employees, they need to have wages set at a certain level. It's better to have a low or moderate paying job, then none at all. And it's certainly better to have a big box store in a neighborhood, than a bunch of fast-food outlets.

Some people will never understand.

Thanks for the link:

WindyPundit

Related posts:

Obama's Wal-Mart connection: Wife served on board of big Wal-Mart supplier
Chicago's "food deserts" well known to Obama
My book report: The Wal-Mart Revolution: How Big Box Stores Benefit Consumers, Workers, and the Economy
The good life of working for the UFCW
Union leaders don't share their members pain
Chicago food desert update: Hyde Park Co-op to close
Big-box shy Chicago facing "food desert"

Technorati tags: Wal-Mart unions labor politics elections retail business Obama barack obama democrats Chicago Illinois food deserts big box Safeway Target Richard Daley Bobby Rush