Imagine for a moment living your entire life without being able to shop at a grocery store. You’re forced to go without fresh fruits or vegetables, and even have no access to the basic ingredients required for a healthy home-cooked meal. All of your meals would be resorting to fast food or processed junk food that you purchased at the corner store with SNAP (food stamp benefits). That dismal scenario is reality for the 11 million impoverished Americans living in food deserts.
Simply put, food deserts are areas without grocery stores. The USDA defines food deserts as parts of the country void of fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthful whole foods, usually found in impoverished areas. This lack of access is only worsened by a lack of transportation. Most families in food deserts also live without a car. That means they rely on public transportation for their work commute and they typically walk to stores nearest their home for food.
Grocery stores, like many other businesses, study the demographics of an area before deciding where to open a store. Unfortunately, impoverished areas in America don’t meet the intended demographic criteria for grocery stores to invest in building a location there. As a result, residents of these neglected neighborhoods only have access to small community stores that typically specialize in selling alcohol and junk food.
For more on healthier food access, read these PCD articles: