If any of us were forced to live in a desert we'd probably find trying to survive in a barren, desolate wasteland difficult. But through a series of public policies and private sector decisions, millions of mostly low-income and minority families in America have been condemned to subsist in vast urban "food deserts" that pose serious health threats to their children. Food deserts, areas with no or distant grocery stores, are generally in communities where most residents can buy food only at "convenience" stores, liquor stores, gas stations, or fast food restaurants that sell foods high in fat, sugar, and salt. Getting to stores that offer a greater variety of foods is often challenging since many families lack cars and many city and state governments have cut back on investments in public transportation. When many Americans are resolving to eat more healthfully in the new year, children and families living in "food deserts" often lack that choice.
The health and vitality of people living in many urban neighborhoods can differ from block to block depending on how near or far they are to a grocery store or supermarket that offers reasonably priced fresh fruits and vegetables that are low in calories and nutritionally dense. In many urban neighborhoods, it's easier to buy a pint of liquor, a fried chicken wing, or a gun than a fresh tomato. The failure of supermarket chains to locate stores that offer fresh fruits and vegetables in inner-city communities--a form of food redlining--has had a profound impact on the nutrition, health, and well-being of families lacking cars or access to public transportation to get to well-stocked grocery stores. As a consequence, children growing up in families trapped in food desert zip codes are at risk of becoming obese and developing early hypertension and full-blown high blood pressure that can lead to type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Food deserts originated with the urban White flight of the 1960s and 1970s. When White, middle-class residents left cities for the suburbs, grocery stores followed, according to PolicyLink, a national nonprofit focused on social and economic inequities. In urban communities from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., and from Detroit to Houston, the nearest grocery store is roughly twice as far as the nearest fast food restaurant. About 400,000 Chicago residents live in areas with an imbalance of food choices where there are nearby fast food restaurants but no or distant grocery stores.
A 2003 University of Michigan study of Detroit supermarkets found there were only five grocery stores in Detroit larger than 20,000 square feet. And while 24 percent of Washington, D.C.'s population lives in the predominantly Black areas east of the Anacostia River, only 15 percent of the city's 360 food stores are there. Nationally, the typical low-income neighborhood has 30 percent fewer supermarkets than higher-income neighborhoods. The problem is not only limited to urban areas; food deserts are also common in many rural communities. Across the country, too many families are forced to do their food shopping among convenience store shelves stocked with overpriced, highly processed fatty food with low nutritional value that often has passed its expiration date. In stores like these, staples such as milk can cost two dollars more than at a supermarket.
It's good to know that a number of groups are addressing this problem. The Philadelphia-based nonprofit Food Trust is working with school systems to provide healthy food and offering corner stores financing to stock healthy food and upgrade their refrigeration systems to better preserve fruits and vegetables. Various organizations are seeking federal and local anti-obesity funding to replicate this effort. Such efforts can make a real difference. In a 2002 study, University of North Carolina researchers found African Americans ate an average of 32 percent more fruits and vegetables for each supermarket in their census tract.
Access to nutritious food is a matter of social justice. We must follow the lead of First Lady Michelle Obama, whose community garden at the White House has focused public attention on better nutrition as part of a national movement to improve children's health and prevent obesity and diabetes. If we fail to ensure our children receive better nutrition, our nation will pay a heavy price over time in increased rates of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, resulting in the loss of resources and productivity. As legislators struggle to reform our nation's health care system and contain its skyrocketing costs, addressing the problem of access to nutritious food is one obvious step we must take.
Follow Marian Wright Edelman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ChildDefender
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But there was a Stop&Shop there. Where I live now, the grocery store definitely isn't as good, but it's still unambiguou
I wonder whether the local grocery store is smaller than 200000 square feet. Even the good grocery stores here are smaller than the Meijer stores in the midwest.
First, I'm sure you know that there is no way to formulate the term justice in symbolic logic.Seco
You may be aware the author of the "Alice" books , one CL Dodgson ,was a mathematic
there would be demand for fruits and vegetables in poor areas if they were priced competitiv
Assisted food purchases should only allow single-ing
I would support substantia
Not unlike Medicare, the subsidized food would not have to make a profit or compete with for-profit food outlets. They don't (as miss Wright-Ede
There is NO REASON food insecurity needs to be an issue in America. HOWEVER, there is no reason America should be subisidizi
Reasons you don't see enough true supermarke
Perhaps what is needed are moderate sized (10,000 sq.ft or so) basic supermaket
We have 5 small city farms now. Even the Cleveland Clinic turned an acre of it's own land into a small urban farm and they have a weekly open market in the summer.
The next project is called The Cleveland Greenhouse Project; a group of activists got together and won a grant to build a greenhouse in a blighted neighborho
There is soooo much we can do to change our urban centers from food deserts to food oases.
The only thing 'paid for by others' are tilling services, up to 3 yards of humus every 3 years (compost from city leaf collection
Same with the urban farms currently operating. Citizens found land and either bought or rent it from the property owners at their own expense. The Greenhouse Project is starting up from grants from private foundation
It takes very little "others people's money", yet benefits many. It's called ingenuity, maybe you should open your mind a little.
The five centuries old suffering of the African and native population
The items that make up the inventory in these markets are usually shipped in modest quantities and are fresh and healthy.
I shop there on a regular basis and find that their products are cheaper than the supermarke
One franchise which is very popular and does a great business is "Kin's Market"; but most of these little places are independen
Why don't some of the supermarke
I can understand rural areas might not pan out, as they may not have enough customers close together, cost of gas, etc...
but urban neighborho
Access to nutritious food IS a matter of social justice.