A newly opened grocery store in Chicago is creating a holistic grocery experience that aims to expand food access and improve community health. Fresh-made meals and an in-store information corner on nutrition services are some of the key ways the grocer seeks to close the distance between people and access to healthy food.
Forty Acres Fresh Market is an independent, Black woman-owned grocery business located in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood on a mission to make healthy food and healthy living more widely accessible to people across Chicagoland. In the grocer’s own backyard, over 40,000 low-income residents live within a one-mile radius of the store, according to the Chicago Development Fund.
Forty Acres evolved from originating as a traveling pop-up market in 2018 to a full-service grocery store, which opened in September.
Like a traditional supermarket, the store features a produce department, a deli island, a wall of meat products, fresh-baked bread, dairy, dry grocery, health and beauty items, frozen foods and a full-service butcher. There’s also florals, plants and bulk food.
In the less than 10,000-square-foot store, the grocer carved out a station for freshly made meal options. Toward the back of the store, customers can find Mabel’s Meals, the store’s foodservice area, owner Elizabeth “Liz” Abunaw said.
From 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., Mabel’s Meals offers a breakfast sandwich called “The Morning Glory,” which has scrambled eggs, Dill Havarti cheese, spinach, pickled red onions and Sriracha mayo on a freshly baked roll, with the option to add smoked turkey for an additional charge.
During lunch and dinner hours, the menu features three signature rice bowls with a make-your-own bowl option. Abunaw said signature options include:
- The Coco Bowl: coconut curry with bell peppers, onions, broccoli and fried chickpeas
- The Bayou Bowl: vegan gumbo with bell peppers, onions and celery, green onions over rice
- The Best Side Bowl: mushroom sauce, collard greens and honey-roasted carrots over rice
“We wanted to do something tight that we could do really well, so that’s why there are only three signature bowls,” Abunaw said, adding that offering a variety of cuisines is important to her.
The menu also includes sides like cornbread, collard greens and macaroni and cheese, as well as offers full- and half-rotisserie chickens, jerk chicken and fried chicken, she said.
Forty Acres chose rice for the base because it's an inexpensive ingredient that can also help make a hearty meal, Abunaw said. She was skeptical about serving fried chicken, but the store staff convinced her, and so far, “it’s been hit,” she said. By the front of the store, there’s seating for customers to eat their prepared food.
Having the foodservice option has expanded the reasons why people come to the store.
“Some people shop it as a convenience store one day and then do their full-service shop [here] another day,” Abunaw said, noting that some customers just come to get lunch.
Health-focused offerings
“Healthy isn’t a goal. It’s a way of living,” reads a sign above a wall of freezer doors. As part of Forty Acres’ efforts to be a store that bolsters access to healthy and nutritious food, the grocer teamed up with Foodsmart, a telenutrition and foodcare solution, to create a Nutrition Corner at the store. There, people can find nutrition education resources, recipe cards and information on SNAP plus other food access programs.
A Community Health Outreach Coordinator staffs the Nutrition Corner to answer questions about Foodsmart’s offerings and connect eligible customers to registered dietitians.
Customers have signed up for dietitian appointments or had a FoodSmart staff member help them navigate the store to find lifestyle-appropriate items for their household, Abunaw said. Foodsmart and Forty Acres Fresh Market plan to collaborate on food demos, cooking classes and more programming, the companies said in a joint announcement.
“By embedding foodcare and nutrition support directly into the grocery shopping experience, we’re creating a model that can be replicated in communities across the country,” Jennifer McGuire, chief customer experience officer at Foodsmart, said in the announcement.
Forty Acres’ efforts to support nutritious eating come at a time when the grocery industry is taking steps to strengthen the link between selling food and offering health services, turning to food-as-medicine initiatives and launching wellness programs. As the rise of GLP-1 medications promises to further disrupt grocery shopping, efforts like those at Forty Acres Market show how grocers can promote health in the grocery retail experience.
