What’s a "Food Desert" and do you live in one?
And, if you're lucky enough not to, increase your awareness of how Food Deserts impacts those that do!
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Maybe you’ve heard the term “Food Desert” before.
Maybe this is the first time you’re hearing of it.
Regardless of your experience with the word, I want to use today’s blog post to explain what Food Deserts are and how they impact people who live in them, discuss how Food Deserts originate in the first place, and generally increase awareness around food and nutrition privilege that exists for so many while others are left in situations that automatically set them behind in their health.
What is a Food Desert?
Food Deserts are areas where people have limited access to a variety of healthy and affordable food. These regions include many individuals with lower incomes, they tend to include a higher percentage of minority population, lack of access to transportation, and “a limited number of food retailers providing fresh produce and healthy groceries for affordable prices.”1
Based on census data from 2000 and updated 2006 data, there were approximately 6,500 Food Desert tracts across the US at that time.2
How many people does that translate to?!
23.5 million!
“23.5 million people live in low-income areas that are further than 1 mile from a large grocery store or supermarket, and that 11.5 million of these people have low incomes themselves.”3
This graph depicting the different demographics of Food Deserts vs. Non-Food Deserts is quite staggering.
Additionally, the sparsity of these shopping centers also tend to lead to higher prices of food that does exist… obviously, not helpful for communities that already tend to have lower incomes.
Overall, living more than a mile from a grocery store, without reliable transportation, and low income can be extremely limiting factors when it comes to being able to eat healthy foods or serve them to a family.
Despite the fact that some of this data is on the older side, unfortunately there have not been drastic updates or changes to many of these areas since then. As of 2017, “Researchers estimated that 19 million people — or 6.2% of the nation’s total population — had limited access to a supermarket or grocery store.”4
This still very much a real issue for many.
How/where do Food Deserts originate?
Poverty looks to be the primary factor in the evolution of Food Deserts.
The USDA study concludes: “Results from our descriptive analysis contrasting food desert tracts and other tracts support much of the previous research, concluding that minority status and poverty are more prevalent in areas with limited access to healthy and affordable food. Observation of three survey periods also illuminates the persistence of low-access and low-income conditions in food deserts. As community development and infrastructure investment are neglected, residents remain in impoverished conditions.”5
Specifically, Food Deserts they are located here:
In many of these locations, the lower-quality community infrastructure combined with lower income nature of some of these areas, grocery chains are also less inclined to setup in the areas, despite the populations’ need for them.
Alternatively, in some of these areas there is a prevalence of fast food chains, dollar stores, and convenience stores, which do not typically sell many healthy options anyway.
How do Food Deserts impact those who live in them?
Living in a Food Desert makes it difficult to eat a variety of foods from different food groups, to control calorie intake, and to limit the intake of trans fats, added sugars, and excess sodium. All of these factors make maintaining health that much more challenging for these individuals.
The rise in diet-related diseases like diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease can be connected to access to healthy and affordable food, specifically fresh fruits and veggies and high-quality proteins.
These areas also tend to have poorer education, in general and specifically around nutrition and health concepts, less access to fitness facilities, and “limited health care services in conjunction with high prices for fresh produce and other healthy food, which may result in poor diet and adverse health outcomes for residents of these areas.”6
Again, not a constructive combination of factors.
Understanding Food and Nutrition privilege
Even if you don’t personally live in a Food Desert, why should you care about their existence?
If you don’t live in a Food Desert, wonderful, and this may be a good opportunity to explore your privilege.
Personally, living in the northeast, where Food Deserts are less prominent due to the high concentration of cities closer together, access to food is not necessarily something I’ve had to deal with personally.
I also understand that I’m guilty of regularly recommending that people drink their water, eat their fruits or veggies, consume protein at each meal, and eat mostly whole, real foods. As if that’s an accessible and feasible thing for all people… admittedly, I DO NOT typically address whether individuals have access to those foods.
Take a second and recognize your own access to food, be thankful for it if that’s appropriate, and realize that others may not be as lucky as you.
What’s being done about Food Deserts? / What can you do to help?
There are programs out there that are aiming to decrease the existence of Food Deserts. One example of support is The Community Food Projects Competitive Grant Program. They “fund sustainable food projects that help low income communities gain access to nutritious and culturally acceptable diets.”7
While those programs are certainly helpful, we may also ask: What can we do?
Here are 3 things that come to my mind…
Donate to, if you can, support, or volunteer at organizations that support access to food for all individuals. Sustainable farming efforts in cities, mobile and bus stop markets, donations to the greater cause, or programs like the one mentioned above.
Vote for policymakers, from the town and community level all the way up, who are looking to improve access to healthy foods in Food Deserts. This could be through increasing access to public transportation, working to establish community gardens, establishing real nutrition education in schools, etc. (Check out this article for more ideas and elaboration on decreasing the existence of Food Deserts.)
I understand we can each “only” vote in our own communities, but we should certainly do that, and then on a regional and national level, continue to elect those who will help people in these Food Deserts.
I also imagine that we can all work on “judging” less. People make choices based on what they know, what they’ve been taught, based on past and present experiences, what they currently have or have access to, all of which we know NOTHING about. Removing judgement, and meeting people where they are and supporting them there, can be hugely beneficial in removing stigma around food access and choices, and overall health.
I hope this post was at least a little helpful in opening your eyes to the realities of food access that so many people DON’T get. I know the research and writing process was helpful for me in this capacity.
Also, if you’re reading this and know of more information, resources, or avenues for support, please share in the comments or email me at sara@nutritionforlifeproject.com so I can share appropriately!
As always, thank you for reading,
xoxo,
Sara
https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/45014/30940_err140.pdf
https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/45014/30940_err140.pdf
https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/45014/30940_err140.pdf
https://www.aecf.org/blog/exploring-americas-food-deserts
https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/45014/30940_err140.pdf
https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/45014/30940_err140.pdf
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/what-are-food-deserts#solutions