Food desert
fuːd ˈdɛz.ɚt
Geographic areas where residents lack adequate access to affordable, nutritious foods.
Full Explanation
A food desert is a neighborhood or community where people face significant barriers in obtaining healthy, affordable food. The USDA identifies these areas as low-income communities where at least 20% of residents live in poverty or have a median family income at 80% eighty percent or less of the area's median. Additionally, a substantial portion of the population live far from a supermarket, typically more than one mile away in cities or more than ten miles away in rural areas. These communities often have an abundance of convenience stores, dollar stores and fast food restaurants that primarily sell (ulta)processed foods high in sugar, sodium and unhealthy fats. But they lack access to fresh fruits, vegetables and other nutritious whole foods. Even if these nutritious options are available, the residents are not able to afford them. The term first originated in Scotland during the early 1990s and has since become widely used to describe this public health and equity issue, though it has been criticized for focusing too heavily on distance rather than addressing underlying systemic issues like racism, economic inequality, and transportation barriers.
Why It Matters
Food deserts affects public health and reinforce social inequalities. People living in these areas face higher risks of diet-related diseases including obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and certain nutritional deficiencies. Research has consistently shown that food deserts disproportionately affect communities of color and low-income populations. Studies indicate that predominantly Black neighborhoods have on average four times fewer supermarkets than white neighborhoods, and people of color are 30% more likely to live in food deserts than white Americans. This disparity reflects historical patterns of disinvestment, discriminatory practices like redlining, and ongoing structural inequalities. Beyond health outcomes, food deserts limit economic opportunities, reduce quality of life and perpetuate cycles of poverty. Addressing food deserts requires understanding them as symptoms of broader systemic issues like economic segregation, inadequate public transportation and inequitable urban planning.
Common Misconceptions
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"Food deserts have no food at all". Food deserts typically have corner stores, fast-food outlets and similar. The issue is lack of access to fresh, nutritious, affordable food, not absence of all food.
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"Opening a few grocery store solves the problem". Access involves more than proximity. It involves affordability, transportation, cultural appropriateness of foods, store hours and community trust.
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"People in food deserts just need to make better choices". This ignores structural barriers; when healthy food is unavailable or unaffordable, individual choice is constrained by systemic factors