Cultivating Access: Combating Food Deserts

Millions of Americans are affected by hunger and a lack of access to fresh, nutritious food. When talking about food insecurity, you may have heard the term “food desert” be tossed around. 

In this blog, we’re diving deeper into food deserts, how they’re caused, the detriment they are and how we can begin to solve for change in the communities that face them. 

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Food Deserts & Their Impact 

So, what a food desert?

A food desert is a geographical area where access to affordable and healthy food options is severely restricted or non-existent, due to a variety of factors like limited availability of grocery stores, inadequate public transportation and lower income and education. The USDA uses food desert census tracts to make determinations on if an area is considered a food desert. Relative to all other census tracts, food desert tracts tend to have smaller populations, higher rates of abandoned or vacant homes, and residents who have lower levels of education, lower incomes, and higher unemployment.

Food deserts can cause significant harm to those who live in them. The scarcity of nutritious food in food deserts leads to higher rates of diet-related illnesses such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease.

Because people who live in food deserts have limited access to a full grocery store, they may consume more shelf-stable foods that tend to be higher in unhealthy fats, sugars, and sodium and low in essential nutrients like fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

Food deserts can also have a serious impact on mental health. Determining where the next meal is coming from and finding and accessing the nearest grocery stores can be extremely taxing from a mental and emotional perspective. Let’s face it: going hungry is incredibly stressful and can have long-term impacts on the mental and physical health of those experiencing it. The negative health effects of living in a food desert is not only a “here and now” issue, it spans to future generations of consumers that are raised in and around them. 

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Food Disparities: Urban vs. Rural

According to USDA ERS (Economic Research Service), roughly 13% of the U.S. population were liv­ing in low-income and low-access areas – which is more than 1 mile for urban areas, or 10 miles for rur­al areas – from the near­est super­mar­ket or large gro­cery store.

With­in this group, researchers esti­mat­ed that almost 19 mil­lion peo­ple — or 6% of the nation’s total pop­u­la­tion — had lim­it­ed access to a supermarket. 

Both urban and rural communities face the issue of food deserts, albeit in fundamentally different ways. While urban areas typically have better options regarding public transportation, sometimes paying for a bus or train fare can be prohibitive for people trying to get to a grocery store outside of their immediate vicinity. 

Residents in these areas may rely on convenience stores or fast food options, which typically offer unhealthy, processed foods with limited fresh produce. This lack of access to nutritious food contributes to higher rates of diet-related illnesses like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

In rural areas, food deserts often stem from geographical isolation. Residents may live far from the nearest grocery store, making it difficult to access fresh and affordable food. Transportation challenges exacerbate the issue, as rural areas often lack public transit, and long distances make regular grocery shopping trips costly and time-consuming. Like their urban counterparts, rural residents in food deserts face increased health risks due to poor diets.

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Solving the Problem

Alleviating the problem of food desserts requires an all-hands-on-deck approach. There are many initiatives being taken country-wide to bring wider access to fresh food into communities located within a food desert. These initiatives range from grassroots efforts such as promoting community-driven solutions, and supporting local food-based businesses, to federal programs such as increasing and strengthening access to SNAP and WIC. We urge those that are called to make a difference to be bold and innovative when it comes to finding sustainable solutions to this issue.

By working together to raise awareness on food deserts and create equitable access, we can create a world in which no community goes hungry.