AART Launches Feed the Change MKE to Expand Healthy Food Access on Milwaukee’s Northwest Side

The African American Roundtable (AART) officially launched its new Northwest Side food justice initiative, Feed the Change MKE.

The goal for the campaign is a $1 million investment in Milwaukee’s Healthy Food Establishment Fund to support locally owned grocery stores, community gardens, farmers markets, nutrition education programs, and other resident-led food access solutions on Milwaukee’s Northwest Side.

Feed the Change MKE highlights the intersection of food access and how food justice is connected to public health, economic opportunity, housing stability, and community power.

“This is a campaign that is a vision of residents primarily from the far northwest side of Milwaukee,” said Community Program Manager Ryeshia Farmer. “This campaign is about building a localized food system that gives people agency, that gives people dignity, that gives people choice, that gives people health.”

The launch, on Saturday, May 30, hosted at Greater Holy Temple Christian Academy, 9520 West Allyn St., featured a community fair and resource event aimed at expanding equitable access to healthy food and supporting long-term investment in community-driven food systems.

Residents enjoyed free food, giveaways, access to food-related resources, education, and a variety of activities for families and children.

The AART is an intergenerational community of people led by and serving Milwaukee’s Black community. AART is a transformative organization dedicated to the liberation of Black individuals through the power of organized, nurtured leadership, and can actively be a part of systemic change.

Since 2021, AART has organized community conversations with Northwest Side residents to identify the neighborhood’s most pressing needs. Food insecurity consistently emerged as a top concern.

Shirley Tucker, a long-standing member and cohort leader of Feed the Change MKE, addressed the community’s concern.

“There is a lack of healthy quality foods, a lack of caring grocers, unsanitary stores, store closings, a lack of fresh fruits and vegetables, and a lack of culturally relevant foods at pantries,” Tucker said. “This is not a natural occurrence, this is by design, and it is referred to as ‘food apartheid’.”

Providing a concrete example, Dr. Sandra Jones, Executive Director of Victory Gardens Initiative, noted that the Harambee neighborhood, home to approximately 11,000 residents, does not have any major grocery stores within its boundaries. As a result, many residents rely on corner stores, gas stations, and liquor stores for their food purchases, where access to healthy and nutritious food options is often limited.

Across Milwaukee, at least eight full-service grocery stores have closed or announced plans to close since the summer of 2025. Most of these closures have occurred on the city’s North and Northwest sides, significantly worsening food access challenges in those communities.

Nationwide, millions of Americans live in neighborhoods where the closest supermarket or large grocery store is inaccessible without a vehicle.

“Food insecurity not only affects your physical health but also your mental health,” Jones said.

“Feed the Change MKE recognizes that food justice is public safety work. When neighborhoods are empowered, connected, and invested in, people feel safer, and neighborhoods thrive,” Tucker said. “Healthy food is a human right.”

The campaign is seeking volunteers and community partners.

“We have a call to action. We’re asking you to volunteer. We need partners, organizations, artists, community groups, and we invite you to come and collaborate with AART,” Tucker said.

For more information, to get involved, or to donate, go to aartmke.org