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Listen: Neighbors Take On Corner Stores Plagued By Violence, Spoiled Food

Chalie’s Convenient Market in Washington Park, Ill., is known as the “Orange Store” among neighbors. (Michael B. Thomas for KHN)

Kaiser Health News Midwest correspondent Cara Anthony joined host Sarah Fenske on St. Louis Public Radio’s news magazine “St. Louis on the Air” to discuss how some residents of East St. Louis and neighboring communities are fighting back against violence centered around their local corner stores.

Anthony had reported that such corner stores are among the few grocery options for many, including those who use the federal food stamp program, but a lack of oversight has allowed the stores to become magnets for violence. The poor quality of food doesn’t make a trip to the corner store worth the risk. As officials in Washington turn a blind eye to the storefront gunbattles, residents are putting their feet down.

This story was produced by Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation.

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