Food Deserts Leave Low-Income Families High and Dry...
Submitted by SBLP on Thu, 10/20/2011 - 10:27am
Food Deserts Leave Low-Income Families High and Dry in their Search for Nutritious and Affordable Food
In honor of World Food Day late last week (October 16th), this will be the first in a series of blog posts addressing issues of access to healthy and affordable food for all, a primary goal of the Sustainable Business Network’s Boston Local Food Program.
How long does it take you to get to a grocery store from where you live? Five minutes? Ten Minutes? Proximity to a grocery store is often considered a major asset to residential properties. However, this access is not a luxury that every US neighborhood enjoys. Large parts of primarily low-income communities in the US lack access to affordable and healthy food, which has become a major public health issue. Imagine you are a single parent or a single income family living on a minimum wage salary. You do not own a car and the nearest grocery store selling fresh produce is over a mile away. There is a however, a convenience store just around the corner that offers inexpensive processed food that although high in saturated fats, sugar, and salt, will fill you up. This scenario is not unfamiliar to an estimated 2 million or more Americans who reside in our country’s “food deserts” according to a 2009 report to congress by the US Department of Agriculture.
An area qualifies as a food desert if it is both a “low-income” community and also a “low-access” community. “Low income” as defined for these purposes by the USDA is a census tract (a statistical segment of a county designated for census purposes) with 20 percent or more of the population living below the poverty line. “Low-access” is defined as 500 people or 33 percent of a census tract’s population living more than one mile from a supermarket or large grocery store. (Source: USDA).
Perhaps surprisingly, these communities exist in every corner of the country, even in densely inhabited New England. Right here in Greater Boston large sections of Chelsea, Dedham, East Boston, Lynn, Quincy and Revere are categorized as food deserts. The Economic Research Service, a division of The US Department of Agriculture has developed an interactive tool to illustrate the prevalence of this national public health problem. The Food Desert Locator makes it easy to see exactly where the food desert phenomenon manifests itself. Is your neighborhood a food desert?
There are numerous people and organizations working to eliminate food deserts in the US. Most notably, Michelle Obama and her “Let’s Move! Campaign” has challenged major food retailers to aid in her fight against childhood obesity. Specifically, these retailers have committed to broaden offerings of fresh and nutritious foods in existing stores and open new stores bringing more fresh fruits and vegetables to the nations most adversely affected food deserts. Here in Massachusetts, programs like City Growers and Revision Farm are working to increase food production in underserved communities by turning vacant urban lots into productive farmland. Additionally, over 70 Mass Farmers Markets now accept SNAP benefits and EBT. In their 2009 report to Congress on the issue of food deserts, the USDA identified Community Food Projects like these as a major element in addressing the problem of food access in underserved US communities. Later in this blog post series, we will highlight some of the innovative ways that organizations here in the Greater Boston area are working for equal food access.
Genevieve Hale-Case is the Local and Sustainable Food Intern with the Sustainable Business Leader Program. She can be reached at Genevieve@sbnboston.org
