Food Deserts

TeenToTeen
Jan 20, 2021
4 min read

What comes to mind when you think of the phrase “Food Deserts”? Many might picture an expansive, dry, and cactus filled land. Others might think of a Sci-fi world where no food can be found for miles upon miles at a time. In actuality, food deserts are Brownsville and Harlem in NYC, or small towns in Wyoming and Arizona. They surely aren’t fantastical, and millions of Americans face repercussions as a result of these so-called deserts.

If they aren’t dry and cactus-filled land, then what are they? A food desert is a term used to describe a geographic area that doesn’t have sufficient access to grocery stores and organic food, especially in low-income communities (7). In the United States alone, it’s been estimated that 23 million people live in roughly 6,500 different food deserts across the country (7). It’s important to note that most people within these communities do have access to a store, but these stores are often bodegas or delis, rather than full supermarkets. The distinction between these types of stores is important, as delis and bodegas don’t usually sell organic, healthy, or nutritional food. Think about it: when you walk into the deli on your block, do you see salads, meat, or fruits and vegetables? For most, the answer is probably no. And even if you answered yes to that question, many smaller stores, especially when they’re the only store in the area, offer these foods at a much more expensive price.

Another important aspect of this crisis are the clear links to racial oppression. Research from a 2014 John Hopkins report has shown that “at equal levels of poverty, black census tracts had the fewest supermarkets [and] white tracts had the most" (4). When discussing the dire consequences of food deserts, it’s critical to understand that to address the issue of food deserts is to address the systemic racial oppression in the US. “Food desert” is the term that is often used to describe lack of access to healthy food, though many also refer to it as “food oppression” or “food apartheid” because of the clear links to societal oppression.

For people that only have access to these stores, their healthier food intake is severely limited. This can cause serious health problems, and “Medical News'' reports that this lack of access can lead to an increase in obesity, a much higher chance of diabetes, and more weight-related issues within members of these communities (2). According to U.S. Department of Agriculture data, “the highest percentage of households living in food deserts (10 percent or more) had rates of adult obesity in 2008 that were a full nine percentage points higher than counties with the lowest percentage of households in food deserts (1 percent or fewer households)” (1). These numbers are similarly as drastic with rates of diabetes within these communities (1). It’s also important to note that healthcare systems in low income areas are known to be less affordable and accessible -- so for many people living in these areas, the combination between lack of access to healthy food and lack of access to appropriate medical care can be crippling (2).

The consequences of food deserts extend beyond health, and are also inextricably linked with the impact of climate change. The ability to grow food, especially non-processed food, takes a steady and stable environment (6). Climate change is putting farms, and the environment for food-growing, at a serious risk. With the differences in temperatures, increases in droughts, and more disastrous storms, it is going to be even harder to make food in the future -- which in turn, will cause prices for healthy food to go up (6). The price rising on healthier food will make it much harder for many to afford this food, exacerbating the existing crisis (6).

As COVID-19 has done with many aspects of our society, it worsened this existing crisis of food deserts. Many supermarkets have had to close down during the pandemic, or shorten their working hours, in order to keep their workers more safe. Cities have also closed public transportation, making it much harder for those who had to travel to get to supermarkets (3). This is all added onto the fact that low-income communities are already disproportionately affected by COVID-19 infection rates, so many sick and high-risk people can’t shop for groceries, and can’t order them because of the added expense of food delivery services (3). Driven by the rise in unemployment with the pandemic, many states are seeing drastic increases in those who are food insecure--or who don’t have steady access to healthy food or live in a food desert. Kentucky is the most drastic example and has experienced an increase of residents in food deserts by 118% since the start of the pandemic (3).

How can one work to stop all of this? It’s overwhelming, for sure. But thankfully, many organizations and people are already working on envisioning and enacting solutions to the food insecurity crisis. The solutions to food deserts, unfortunately, can’t be summarized in a sentence. It must be approached from every aspect of the issue: transportation, economic disparities, racial oppression, increasing rates of climate change, and food accessibility (5).

How do you start organizing? As with many organizing tactics: start local. Start by researching if you live in a food desert, or if anyone you know does. Are there organizations in your area helping to provide food to low-income communities? Can you volunteer, or donate? Is your municipal government doing anything to help? And, finally, research. There is so much more to food deserts than what I could include here, so if you’re interested read through some of the links below.

Now, when you envision “food deserts”, what do you imagine? And how are you going to change that?

More resources:

Organizations Working to Combat Food Deserts

Food is power: Food Deserts

COVID and Food Insecurity

Understanding Solutions to Food Deserts

Food Deserts Links to BIPOC communities

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