Food Deserts – Scarcity in the Land of Plenty

The phrase “food desert” may sound like something from dystopian science fiction movie, but living in a food desert is a reality that a surprising number of Americans face every day. The term was first coined by the Scottish Nutrition Task Force in 1995 and first introduced to the US via the 2008 Farm Bill (Food Conservation and Energy Act of 2008).
Food deserts are areas that lack access to affordable fresh meats, dairy products, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and other foods that make up a healthy diet; they are a major factor in overall food insecurity in our nation. The USDA defines a food desert as having a poverty rate of 20% or greater, and by how close residents are to supermarkets. In urban food deserts, people live more than a mile away from a supermarket. In rural food deserts, distance to a grocery store is greater than 10 miles.

A 2012 USDA report showed that the main characteristics of food desert areas are: a very large or very sparse population, low income, high levels of unemployment, inadequate access to transportation, and a low number of food retailers providing fresh produce at affordable prices.

Food desert residents usually struggle with a combination of these factors and there are differing schools of thought regarding food deserts and their true effects.
 

Availability, Accessibility, and Affordability Are Issues—Or Are They?

The most wide-spread thinking holds that residents of food deserts have difficulty juggling availability,