LaDonna Redmond

LaDonna's Story: Making Groceries

The average family spends more money on food than any item besides housing. Researchers say food purchases account for ten percent of a family's income. Last year, African Americans spent 52 billion dollars on groceries. Like everyone else they spent a lot of that money in chain grocery stores. Few of those stores, however, are located in African American communities. That's the current situation in Chicago's West Side Austin community, which does not have a single major chain supermarket. Ear to the Ground's LaDonna Redmond explores how this affects the way people eat…and the way they live.

	LaDonna Redmond working with Ben Calhoun.

LaDonna Redmond is a resident of the West Garfield Community and was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago. LaDonna is a community activist who has worked diligently to make her community a safer and healthier place to live. She grew up volunteering at Operation PUSH, where she learned about community organizing through working on the election of Harold Washington. She is currently a 2003 Food and Society Policy Fellow, a professional communications fellowship supported by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. LaDonna attended Antioch College and majored in economics. She is married and the mother of two children, Wade and Taylor.

LaDonna’s mentor is Chicago Public Radio correspondent and deputy news director Ben Calhoun.