JEWEL-OSCO Kicks Off "A Taste of Black History

JEWEL-OSCO will get an early start at celebrating Black History Month with a special "A Taste of Black History" VIP Shopping Event.

Thursday
January 24,2013
3pm-7pm
Jewel-Osco
1655 E. 95th Street 
Chicago.
Open to the public, the free event will feature:

• 
  Appearance and autograph signing by Celebrity Chef Josh Marks, runner-up in FOX-TV's "MasterChef" reality cooking show.



• 
  Food sampling from more than 30 of the retailer's African-American food vendor partners, including several Chicago-based companies.



• 
  Live music by band Zzaje



• 
  JEWEL-OSCO will award a total of $10,000 in donations to St. Felicitas Church Food Pantry, Grant A Wish Food Pantry and one other community organization serving the African-American community



• 
  Enter sweepstakes for a chance to win up to $1,000 in JEWEL-OSCO gift cards



• 
  Special saving opportunities.

The purpose of the event is to recognize the contributions and achievements of JEWEL-OSCO's African-American vendor partners and celebrate "Black History Month."

The vendors will visit the following stores

Saturday, February 2nd	Noon – 5 p.m.	87 W. 87th St. (Chicago)
Sunday, February 3rd	Noon – 5 p.m.	7530 S. Stony Island Ave. (Chicago)
Monday, February 4th	Noon – 4 p.m.	3153 W. 183rd St. (Homewood, Ill.)
Saturday, February 9th	Noon – 5 p.m.	2485 W. Howard St. (Evanston, Ill.)
Sunday, February 10th	Noon – 5 p.m.	9400 S. Ashland Ave. (Chicago)
Monday, February 11th	Noon – 4 p.m.	17705 S. Halsted St. (Homewood, Ill.)
Saturday, February 16th	Noon – 5 p.m.	1655 E. 95th St. (Chicago)
Sunday, February 17th	Noon – 5 p.m.	9400 S. Ashland Ave. (Chicago)
Monday, February 18th	Noon – 4 p.m.	87 W. 87th St. (Chicago)
Saturday, February 23rd	Noon – 5 p.m.	7525 W. Lake St. (River Forest, Ill.)
Sunday, February 24th	Noon – 5 p.m.	443 E. 34th St. (Chicago)
Monday, February 25th	Noon – 5 p.m.	11730 S. Marshfield Ave. (Chicago)

I want to see some Booty at Jewel's!

Ok, that title needs some explanation.  A while back I was at Jewel's at 87h and the Dan Ryan. My wife had spotted an ad for Pirate's Booty

It's a snack, so not the most healthy of foods...but compared to other snacks, it might be considered a health food, the kind you'd see on the North Side.

Clearly, the makers of it are not "urban". In an earlier package, they proudly said that fans of their snack were called "Booty Heads".

But it's great tasting, and available at most places -- except 87th & the Dan Ryan.  When I asked the clerks who worked those aisles about it, they had no clue what I was talking about.

So why don't we have it here? There were pleny of flaming hot chips to choose from, which I saw prominently displayed at Jewel's. But many of hese "healthier" snacks are nowhere to be found, except for the ads.

I felt kind of weird asking the employees "I want some Booty". But I was also sad that we couldn't get what was offered in most stores.

I think this is part of the same unhealthy food cycle that makes our area feel like a "food desert", and part of the real reasons why Whole Foods doesn't want to establish a store near us.

What do you think?

Note: the above post was created quite a while ago, but I don't think things have changed in the past few weeks.

Special grocery deals in the mail

Still have yesterday's mail? What i mean is -- the ads that come in the Tuesday mail? If you just automatically throw them out -- you might want to think again!

They have some special local-only deals in them.

One is from Chatham Food Market. They have stopped hand delivering their sales paper in the neighborhood, but have instead put it in the mail. They've got some good deals and have added the store's personalities on the top. The Market has apparently disassociated itself with Certified Grocers, at least as far as ads (where other stores in the Certified chain/alliance have had similar items on sale, including lesser-known brand labels).

Also, the Jewel's (yes, i know the sign says Jewel, without an 's'...but this is Chicago!) on 87th also has some special deals just for that location. And those do NOT appear in the Sunday Tribune!

Let us know what you find!