* Kay Shipman at FarmWeek…

Sam Acho saw a solution to food insecurity in the hundreds of people at the Everything Local Conference Wednesday in Springfield.

The former Chicago Bears linebacker and ESPN college football analyst shared how professional athletes on different Chicago teams helped create a source of healthy food on Chicago’s West Side. He delivered the keynote address for the conference sponsored by the Illinois Farm Bureau, Illinois Specialty Growers Association and Illinois Farmers Market Association in the Crowne Plaza.

During the racial strife in 2020, Acho and nine professional Chicago athletes “pulled up chairs and sat in a circle and listened” to 10 police officers and 30 teens in the Austin neighborhood. While touring the neighborhood, Acho remembered he and one of the other athletes noticed only one grocery store, but 10 liquor stores. The athletes wondered if they could do something about that problem.

Before they left the tour bus, a young girl spoke to the group. “You come to our community and leave, but a lot of us choose to live here. Some of you will remember that when you go to your homes,” Acho recalled.

* But, a week later, the athletes did come back to the neighborhood…

The athletes proposed buying one of the liquor stores and turning it into a food market where the teens would work.

In August 2020, the Austin Harvest food mart pop-up opened with eight student entrepreneurs working after school three days a week. They sold fresh produce and flowers.

When the open-air market had to close for the season, a radiothon helped raise money for a permanent building and ground was broken in May 2022.

Now, 15 students are participating in a 12-week entrepreneurship program. They learn everything about starting a business from architectural design to customer service. They’re also learning banking, money management and budgeting.

* This is the liquor store they bought…

* Wednesday Journal…

The forthcoming building will be 2,500-square-feet and will maintain the look and feel of Austin Harvest’s outdoor pop-up market. Even the design process was youth led, with Austin Harvest staff working with architects to offer input into the building’s design and functionality. The design incorporates the pop-up’s original orange shipping container and will have a retractable roof to give the community gathering space an open feel. The permanent structure will also include dry storage space and state-of-the-art refrigeration units, allowing students to offer a wider array of fruits, vegetables and fresh flowers. […]

During the first two market seasons Austin Harvest was open three afternoons per week. More than 100 shoppers visited the market each week and students rung up more than 2,400 transactions. When Austin Harvest opens in spring 2023, Williams said the team plans to ease into operations and will consider expanding their hours of operation gradually. He pointed out that this is the first year since the market’s inception that it has operated without pandemic-related limitations.

“We don’t want to rob students of their school experience,” said Williams. “It’s all about balance. We want to serve in excellence and don’t want our students to be overwhelmed.”

* Artist rendering…