Some Illinois towns could soon treat food as a public utility at municipal-owned grocery stores – KSDK (St. Louis)

The Illinois state legislature approved a plan last week to spend $20 million dollars to help small local grocery stores stay open and to help new co-ops or municipal governments open up grocery stores in food deserts. It would run a lot like a public utility, according to Deputy Gov. Andy Manar, who said Illinois hopes to emulate a plan in rural Kansas. He described it as "the public option for grocery."
10 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Giddyap
2 years ago

Business Hostile/Economically Illiterate Illinois Democrats Have The Wrong Answer To Fix Food Deserts – Center Square

Old Joe
2 years ago

Hmm, will shoplifting from one of these municipal stores be considered theft of government property and prosecuted as such?

Freddy
2 years ago
Reply to  Old Joe

Why doesn’t the state just open up designated shoplifting stores? They could name them Shoplifters R Us or Shoplifters Paradise. Instead of grocery bags supply them with suitcases. An all you can shoplift buffet.

Riverbender
2 years ago

This article spotlighted Venice Illinois and the lack of a food store there. What the article didn’t mention was the crime and safety ratings of Venice as Crimegrade.org has. Would you build a store there or would you even venture there to shop? Is Venice, IL Safe?The F grade means the rate of crime is much higher than the average US city. Venice is in the 4th percentile for safety, meaning 96% of cities are safer and 4% of cities are more dangerous. This analysis applies to Venice’s proper boundaries only. See the table on nearby places below for nearby… Read more »

debtsor
2 years ago
Reply to  Riverbender

Venice, IL, a town I’ve never heard of, has fewer than 1,500 people. Can a town of less than 1,500 people even support a full service grocery store? My suburban subdivision has more than 1,500 people living it in and yet, we don’t have our own grocery store, we need to drive to the commercial corridor in town, or the next town over, to buy our groceries. And Google maps shows that a grocery store is available one or two towns away, which is not unexpected for a basically rural community with less than 1,500 people. This is right up… Read more »

Admin
2 years ago
Reply to  debtsor

There’s a Way-Mart 6 miles away. I often shop at one. What’s wrong with that?

debtsor
2 years ago
Reply to  Mark Glennon

I’m gonna have to start shoping at the wal-marts now too because my wife tells me she’s 100% all-in on the Target boycott. She says she’s never shopping target again, and I believe her.

Spike Protein
2 years ago
Reply to  debtsor

Venice, while small, isn’t really “rural.” It’s a small inner ring Illinois suburb of St. Louis similar in demographics to East St. Louis.  There isn’t a need for a grocery store in Venice due to its close proximity to Granite City which has several grocery stores including Schnucks, Walmart, Aldi, Ruler Foods, and Save a Lot. All of these stores in Granite City are within about a 4 mile or 10 minute drive from Venice. I live in a middle-class area of the St. Louis Metro East and this is approximately the same distance to the nearest grocery stores for… Read more »

Riverbender
2 years ago

Venice Illinois was the showcase of the article where people complain about the lack of stores. Lets look at Venice from Crimegrade.orgs rating then decide if you would build a store there. “”Is Venice, IL Safe?The F grade means the rate of crime is much higher than the average US city. Venice is in the 4th percentile for safety, meaning 96% of cities are safer and 4% of cities are more dangerous. This analysis applies to Venice’s proper boundaries only. See the table on nearby places below for nearby cities. The rate of crime in Venice is 98.29 per 1,000… Read more »

Last edited 2 years ago by Riverbender

SIGN UP HERE FOR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER

Home Page Signup
First
Last
Check what you would like to receive:

FOLLOW US

 

WIREPOINTS ORIGINAL STORIES

Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer: Chicago pension buyout plan mostly shifts debt rather than eliminating it, property tax surge doubles inflation over three decades

Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.

Read More »

WE’RE A NONPROFIT AND YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS ARE DEDUCTIBLE.

SEARCH ALL HISTORY

CONTACT / TERMS OF USE