The Little Apothecary plants the seeds of 'people's medicine' in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood
In the middle of Inglewood's community garden sits a red box labeled “Free Medicine.” Inside is a treasure trove of herbs and salves, including mugwort, beeswax, yarrow, and other natural salves for a variety of ailments.
Free Little Apothecary is the brainchild of Loyola University medical student and local agriculture advocate Charmaine Siddiqui, who says she hopes the project will demonstrate a sustainable, preventative health care model.
Siddiqui says plants have “profound medicinal value.” She began making herbal first aid kits for street protesters during the George Floyd uprising in May 2020. That early period in the pandemic saw a surge in free little library and free fridge initiatives across the city, where individuals banded together to anonymously provide supplies to their neighbors.
At the time, Siddiqui was an herbalism program assistant for the agricultural nonprofit Urban Growers Collective, where she connected with urban farmers, including Sistas in the Village, a nearby urban farm that provides education about food, plants, and nutrition. Siddiqui partnered with Sistas and now runs a dispensary using plants grown on the farm.
Herbal medicine, or herbalism, is the basis of nearly all medical science, including Western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine. Many modern medicines are derived from plants, such as the painkiller morphine, which is obtained from the opium poppy. One of the first antibiotics, penicillin, came from a fungus, and a drug extracted from a flower (Madagascar periwinkle) is used to treat childhood leukemia.
Cultivating plants and communities
Cistus at Village Gardens in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood. Photo by Aaron Dorman.
Like many Southside communities, Inglewood faces environmental health issues: the area's former industrial past leaves many vacant lots and contaminated soil, but many urban farmers are now aware of the problem and are cleaning up and testing the soil on their farms.
Inglewood in particular has long been considered a food desert, an urban area lacking reliable access to fresh groceries and produce. In 2022, the local Whole Foods closed and was replaced by a Save-A-Lot franchise.
Dr. Julia Lippert, a health sciences professor at DePaul University, said many South Side communities lack green space and places where people can improve their health.
“Diabetes, obesity, and [any] “There are very few negative health effects that you can think of,” Lippert said, “and then you add in the lack of preventive care facilities and clinics. All of these things are intertwined.”
Not only does Englewood lack access to health care, Siddiqui said, “there's a lack of trust in health care in this community. They've been subjected to health care discrimination.”
Ninety percent of Englewood residents with high rates of hypertension and high blood pressure are Black.
The Inglewood growers opened their dispensary not to compete with modern medicine, but to provide alternative medicine and comfort to their neighbors and to the growers themselves. Siddiqui includes information about the contents of each pill on its packaging.
Chicago city leaders, including Mayor Brandon Johnson, have expressed an interest in supporting community gardens and launched a grant program last summer that has so far invested $2 million in 18 new urban agriculture facilities.
But urban farms and similar projects can only be achieved on a larger scale than the community spaces they create. Urban gardens grown by local farmers create connections where people can come together to learn about healthy food and share it with others in the community, Lippert says. “It’s not just about [one garden] We're trying to grow 500 tomatoes, but we also need space for the kids to play in the dirt.”
Aaron Dorman
Aaron Dorman is a Chicago-area reporter who specializes in environmental and technology issues. He can't tell the difference between mostachori and baked ziti, and he thinks it's a marketing scam.
