More than 600,000 Chicagoans lack easy access to a grocery store offering healthy and fresh foods, according to mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel.

To eradicate food deserts in low-income communities throughout the city, Emmanuel plans to increase access to fresh food options, by “engaging smaller local grocery stores, facilitating public-private partnerships and encouraging community gardens to thrive,” he said at a Feb. 1 press conference at Growing Power Iron Street Farm, 3333 S. Iron St.

Chicago mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel fielding reporters questions, during his press conference at the Growing Power Iron Street Farm, on Feb. 1, where he talked about his plans to combat food deserts in low-income communities across the city. Photo by Mary C. Johns

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Editor’s Note: The following story was written by a student in the Urban Youth International Journalism Program in partnership with Imagine Englewood If, a youth services organization based in that South Side neighborhood:

Elsie Begay didn’t know her floor was killing her, because it was made of uranium waste. Uranium is a dangerous element that is radioactive and naturally occurs in soil in Utah and New Mexico, as we learned at an event at the University of Chicago in October 2010.

Like many Navajo, Begay didn’t know that uranium was in her backyard and that the radioactivity in her home was higher than it is supposed to be because of the uranium.

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Editor’s Note: The following story was written by a student in the Urban Youth International Journalism Program:

Hey, have you ever thought life would be easy? Well it’s not. Even for young people, there is a lot of stress and pressure put on our shoulders.

As a student, it becomes hard to learn and focus because of all the things that occur in a classroom: fighting, loud talking, people talking to friends or even getting smart with the teacher. Add all these things up and they can really throw you off task.

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Click on the image to view the third episode of this season’s “RJ TV,” on August 2, 2010.

Watch Residents’ Journal Youth Project Director Quintana Woodridge’s discussion with RJ young adult reporter Jasmine Hunt about participation in the Chicago Youth Voices Network’s “Nuf SAID” project, where Hunt and other youth reporters surveyed their peers across the city of Chicago in March 2010, about issues of education, crime, violence, health and the environment, housing and homelessness, jobs and employment issues.

The two RJ reporters also discussed Hunt’s scheduled interview with 3rd Ward Ald. Pat Dowell regarding pollution, an upcoming article on school violence by another youth reporter, and they also discussed a “Youth Truth” video produced by the Nuf SAID group in July 2010.

Click on the image to view the second episode of this season’s “RJ TV,” on July 19, 2010.

Watch Residents’ Journal Youth Project Director Quintana Woodridge report the statistics, results, and plans of recent surveys our youth reporters and others in the Chicago Youth Voices Network’s “Nuf-SAID” project done in March 2010, on Chicago low-income area youth perspectives regarding crime, violence, education, health and the environment, housing and homelessness, jobs and employment issues.

Editor’s Note: The following article was written by a youth reporter who is a graduate of the Urban Youth International Journalism Program.

People wonder why schools don’t have healthier foods.

South Shore High School and suburban schools are different, health-wise. Some Chicago Public Schools people think and say school food helps make children obese.
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Dear Crystal:With spring time knocking on my door, I’m starting to be more mindful of what I eat. For me, overeating is a problem and as a single mother I just can’t find the time to exercise. I really do want to slim down and stay healthy. Do you have any tips to help me?

-Junk in the trunk

Dear Trunk:

Well, with the weather getting warmer, a lot of us are wondering how we are going to shed those winter pounds. First of all, remember that in order to stay healthy, we have to see losing weight as a lifestyle change and not as a temporary diet.
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Dear Resident,
As always, it is my pleasure and privilege to welcome you to each edition of RJ.
I would also like to take this opportunity to wish you, your family and our community love, peace andhealth in the new year. And with these some measure of happiness, success and well-being cannot be far behind. But wishing alone will not make it so. In addition to wishing, we must be working to become emotionally, spiritually, physically and financially fit within our home and community.

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