Food deserts are a worldwide issue in food security defined by “Parts of the country vapid of fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthful whole foods, usually found in impoverished areas” (Gallagher). These areas have a substantial share of residents who live in low-income areas that have low levels of access to a grocery store or healthy, affordable food retail outlet. Instead of supermarkets and grocery stores, these communities that qualify as food deserts may have no food access at all or are served only by fast food restaurants and convenience stores that offer few healthy and affordable options for food. The lack of access contributes to a poor diet and can lead to higher levels of obesity and other diet-related diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease. Food deserts are just simply caused by a lack of grocery stores, farmers’ markets, and healthy food providers within reach of the consumer.
“The food desert concept was first introduced in the United Kingdom in the early 1990’s to examine disparities in food pricing and to describe geographical areas with limited access to retail grocery stores”(Success Organics). The area in the United Kingdom that started the concept was in Scotland. Before the 1950’s, the food landscape of rural and urban areas consisted of just local small businesses and supermarkets. In the recent decades, many traditional food-retailing firms have become larger and the total number of stores has decreased. “Land-use policies that facilitate development of predominately wealthy and white suburban neighborhoods have altered the distribution of food stores, as larger supermarkets have migrated alongside residents to suburban areas” (Success Organics). As a result of this, inner-city food supply has less variety that denies some residents in urban areas the benefits of healthy foods for affordable prices. The remaining food retailers in inner-city areas are limited to gas stations, convenience stores, and liquor stores. A diet based on foods from these locations consists primarily of processed foods high in calories, sugars, salt, fat, and artificial ingredients. “Health disparities related to food access and consumption are associated with residential segregation, low incomes, and neighborhood deprivation” (Success Organics).
There are two types of food deserts that are defined by the United States Department of Agriculture, one being a low-access community and the other being a low-income community. “To qualify as a low-access community, at least 500 people and/or at least 33 percent of the census tract’s population must reside more than one mile from a supermarket or large grocery store (for rural census tracts, the distance is more than 10 miles)”(USDA). To qualify as a low-income community, the area must have “…a poverty rate of 20 percent or greater, or a median family income at or below 80 percent of the area median family income” (USDA). A one-mile reference may not be appropriate to use in rural areas where the population is more sparsely distributed and where vehicle ownership is higher than urban areas. To determine further the number of people who may be affected by food deserts, a 10-mile area is used to consider food access in rural areas.
Food deserts are more prevalent than most people would think because there are not a whole lot of advocacy initiative and public displays on information specifically devoted to the concept of food deserts. “USDA’s Economic Research Service estimates that 23.5 million people live in food deserts. More than half of those people (13.5 million) are low-income. There are 2.3 million people that live in low-income rural areas that are more than 10 miles from a supermarket” (USDA).
Health disparities related to food access and consumption are associated with residential segregation, low incomes, and neighborhood deprivation. There are theories that have found
