Kartemquin Films

Lupe Fiasco feeds Chicagoans in food deserts

A long line of Englewood residents waited for vegan ribs, macaroni and greens in front of Payless Grocery on 69th and Ashland.

Dinners like this don’t usually exist in a sea of fast-food eateries. On Tuesday, the vegan flavors came from Soul Vegan Food, courtesy of hip-hop artist Lupe Fiasco.

During Ramadan, the Chicago native’s foundation has the goal of feeding 100 people a day. Some are in neighborhoods that are considered food deserts.

Payless Grocery is a corner store that has recently begun stocking fresh produce. Often these kinds of stores are the main grocers in communities like Englewood. But tension bubbles up around these stores because some of the businesses focus too much on junk food and liquor.

It’s an issue Lupe is sensitive to — his first album was called Food & Liquor. Changing that paradigm is what brought him out to Payless on Tuesday afternoon.

Fiasco has long used his success to bring greater awareness to the problems plaguing the community he grew up in. Last week he broke down during an interview on MTV, while speaking about the toll violence has taken on Chicago’s young people.

FILMS: Generation Food, The Interrupters

Source: wbez.org