Milwaukee organizers are turning up the heat on City Hall, formally launching Feed the Change MKE on Saturday, May 30, with a press conference and resource fair on the Northwest Side. The campaign is aimed at securing city dollars for neighborhood grocery stores, farmers markets and nutrition programs after a year of grocery closures and long-standing food access gaps on the city’s North and Northwest sides.
The African American Roundtable, a Black-led civic group, says the first big ask is clear: get the Common Council to add $1 million to the city’s Fresh Food Access Fund to bolster locally owned food businesses that residents say are hanging on by a thread.
The launch is scheduled from noon to 2:30 p.m. at Greater Holy Temple Christian Academy, with a 12:30 p.m. press conference and a family-focused resource fair, according to the African American Roundtable. Organizers say there will be free food, giveaways and sign-ups for resident trainings that will roll through the city’s budget season.
Funding And The City Budget
Organizers are tying the new push to recent council action that steered $400,000 into the Healthy Food Establishment Fund, a move the Common Council adopted on April 21, according to the City of Milwaukee Legistar. The money comes from settlement funds that had been set aside for a Grocery Store Retention Fund.
For the African American Roundtable, that April deposit is not the finish line but the opening bid, a foothold they hope will grow into a long-term, reliable investment in neighborhood food infrastructure.
What Organizers Say
"We want a greater food system that’s not relying on corporations," said Ryeshia Farmer, the African American Roundtable’s community programs manager, summing up the group’s drive to expand community-run markets and gardens, as reported by the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.
Staff with the group say Feed the Change MKE will center on training resident leaders, then sending those newly trained neighbors to press aldermen throughout the city’s budget debates. Less corporate spin, more community testimony.
Local Operators Say Funding Gaps Persist
At an April 25 town hall, Sherman Park Grocery owner Maurice Wince and food entrepreneur Annia Leonard described how existing grant programs often come with strings that small operators struggle to meet, including matching requirements and staffing that many neighborhood shops simply do not have, according to OnMilwaukee.
Leonard, who ran the Good Food Bus until its funding dried up, said that when programs are routed through multiple agencies, the maze of applications and rules can be more than lean teams can navigate. The result, they argued, is that money meant for local food access can miss the very businesses residents rely on.
What’s Next
The Feed the Change MKE campaign spells out its core demand plainly: secure a $1 million investment for the Milwaukee Fresh Food Fund and steer that money to locally owned grocery stores, markets, gardens and nutrition education programs, according to the African American Roundtable.
Organizers say they are planning a series of trainings and budget-season actions, and they view the April council allocation as a starting block they want to build from so small, resident-prioritized operators actually see the funding.
The May 30 launch is designed to mix policy demands with neighborhood storytelling, putting residents and small-business owners in the same room to show aldermen how funds could be put to work on specific blocks. For those who cannot attend, organizers say campaign updates will continue on the African American Roundtable’s site and through local coverage as budget talks unfold.
