West Garfield Park’s last grocery store has been closed down — temporarily — until it “meets the health code and prevents the spread of food-borne disease,” according to the Chicago Department of Public Health’s spokesperson. Health inspectors responded to customer complaints that the Save A Lot on 420 South Pulaski Road was infested with rodents.
This is a harsh hit to West Side residents who are already struggling to make it to the store to buy fresh food. They did have an Aldi grocery store last year, however, in October 2021, it closed its doors permanently. This left them with Save A Lot as their only local option.
Many residents feel this is completely unfair. They should not have to travel outside of the neighborhood to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. The closest place they have now is a Freshway Market located at 3240 West Roosevelt Road — roughly 1.5 miles from the Save A Lot grocery store.
People who live in West Garfield Park already have an average life expectancy that is 16 years shorter than those who live in the Downtown, Chicago area, according to a 2015 Virginia Commonwealth University report. Now they are losing what little available fresh fruit and vegetables they have had available. This has many fearing this “death gap” could soon widen.
This is not the first time that Save A Lot has had issues with a food inspection. They failed five of them in 2021, according to public health records. For example, in January 2021, inspectors discovered the building was not properly sealed to keep pests out. they found rat droppings in Save A Lot’s storage rooms and some of their refrigerators were not cold enough to keep food fresh.
For many years the West Side has had a lack of grocery stores. In the Spring of 2020, a group of local nonprofits set out to develop the West Garfield Park Corridors Plan which would help develop “strategies to combat food scarcity” among other things.
Many residents are hoping a change for the better will soon come to the West Side.
Written by Sheena Robertson
Sources:
Austin Weekly: West Garfield Park Aldi closes permanently; by Igor Studenkov
WBEZ Chicago: Who will buy a shuttered West Side Aldi? The city of Chicago is interested. By Linda Lutton
Block Club Chicago: There Are No Grocery Stores Open In West Garfield Park After Save A Lot Shut Down By City Because Of Rats; by Pascal Sabino
Images Courtesy of Kzoo Cowboy’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
