Mayor Brandon Johnson announced a sweeping new strategy Thursday to expand food access across Chicago, calling for a network of year-round indoor public markets concentrated in the city’s historically underserved South and West sides. The Market City Action Plan also calls for administrative infrastructure to support food entrepreneurs and continued backing for existing farmers markets, marking the latest shift in an effort that began three years ago as a proposal for a city-owned grocery store.
Johnson signed an executive order establishing a steering committee of city departments and community members to carry out the plan, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. He also appointed Aaliayah Romer as the city’s manager of food equity to lead the initiative. “This executive order moves that vision into action so we can deliver lasting solutions shaped by the needs of our neighborhoods,” Johnson said, according to the outlet’s report by Mariah Rush.
The plan’s goal, Johnson said, is to make Chicago a “market city” — a community-responsive food system paired with opportunities for local entrepreneurs. He said Chicagoans had made clear they wanted their entrepreneurial efforts and the existing food ecosystem strengthened rather than replaced outright.
From City-Owned Grocery Store to Public Markets
Johnson first floated the idea of a publicly owned grocery store back in 2023, and a city-commissioned study the following year concluded the concept was “necessary, feasible and implementable,” according to the Chicago Tribune. But the administration walked back that proposal in early 2025, pivoting instead toward opening public markets after the feasibility study, and Johnson formally proposed a public market later that year…