A redesigned food market at Kennedy-King College provides students with free meals and upgrades food pantry experience

A newly redesigned on-campus food market will provide free food for students at Kennedy-King College in Englewood. Statesmen Market is an extension of Chicago City College’s former food pantry, and was celebrated with a grand opening ceremony on Tuesday.

The market is located in the V building of the campus at 6301 S. Halsted St. and consists of grab-and-go snacks, frozen meals and food options to cook. Students can enjoy the market in between classes, along with wellness and pantry items like lotions and food storage bags.

“The Statesman Market reflects a powerful belief: hunger should never stand in the way of education, life goals and career success.” Katonja Webb-Walker, Kennedy-King College president, said at the ceremony. “Our students come to Kennedy-King with big dreams, and this new, expanded and beautiful marketplace helps ensure every student has the support they need to stay enrolled, focused and thriving.”

Students will be able to grab items from the Statesmen Market starting Wednesday, with operations expected to run 40 hours a week, according to Anne Althoff, executive director of student wellness at City Colleges of Chicago. Althoff added that the redesigned market was created to remove negative stigmas that are associated with food pantries and to “feel more like a grocery store.”

Statesmen Market is a product of the Food Security for Life initiative, a collaboration between the City Colleges of Chicago and the Greater Chicago Food Depository, which aims to address food insecurity among City Colleges students. The initiative was launched last year; Kennedy-King is the pilot college of the project.

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