Ifedi promotes organization fighting food deserts

[Staley Da Bear]

"I was born and raised in inner-city Houston," said Ifedi. "Looking back on it, there were not a ton of healthy food options in those parts of town. You see the fast-food restaurants. You see the corner stores. You don't see the stores where you can get healthy food."


Since entering the NFL, Ifedi has worked to keep his diet healthy. At 26 years old, Ifedi has realized that he can't sustain his career if he was as careless with food as he was in his youth. Ifedi now avoids processed foods and gets his protein through fish or plant-based sources.


"The things they do with the food in the city," said Ifedi, "and everything they stand for is principles that I put into my own life and put into my own diet. Older guys taught me earlier in my career that your talent will take you a long way in this business."


The USDA defines a food desert as a low-income area in which more than one-third of the population lives more than one mile (10 miles for rural areas) away from the nearest supermarket.


Laurell Sims and Erika Allen founded Urban Growers Collective in 2017. The organization seeks to fight the food desert status of much of Chicago's South and West Sides by developing a community in which food is grown, prepared and distributed locally.