What are Food Deserts?

By: Grace Zhang

​Right now, if you were to crave something that wasn’t in your pantry at home, how hard would it be to go buy it? The majority of you probably have a well-stocked grocery store within driving distance or even just a walk away. It’s hard to believe that in a developed country that there are places where it’s not difficult to find the very foods that the majority of us can so easily buy. But that’s the sad reality, some communities are in areas where they cannot easily access the foods that you and I can at affordable prices.

Food deserts resemble its literal meaning; it’s areas that have scarce or no access to affordable and fresh foods due to the absence of grocery stores within a convenient travelling distance. Without easy access to supermarkets, individuals that live in food deserts consume more junk food than healthy foods, which can have a dramatic impact on their long term health.

What are the causes of food deserts? Well, certain economic factors have decreased the number of grocery stores in cities and as a consequence, they are located in areas that may require many bus and train rides to get to. In areas where public transportation is rare and the individual does not own a car, going to buy the essential foods can become an all-day task.

Food deserts are also characteristically located in African American and brown communities or low-income ones where the majority of the individuals cannot afford a car. Research has found that higher-income communities have three times more supermarkets as low-income ones and African American communities have on average four times fewer grocery stores than white ones do.

In addition to the lack of access to nutritious food in low-income communities, junk food chains can be found in large numbers there. Individuals in these communities tend to work longer hours and lean towards a convenient meal, that combined with the low amount of stores where fresh meats and produce are available, results in fast food restaurants garnering an increased amount of profit. This pattern leads to more junk food chains opening locations in these neighbourhoods.

To combat this inequality, food desert activists have come up with creative solutions to help more people eat healthier. Nonprofit grocery stores are those that are smaller than regular ones and often receive donations or help from volunteers to keep it running. In 2013, Fair and Square Grocery opened in Chester, Pennsylvania, a city where all of its grocery stores had closed. Fair and Square receives support from the government and other donors and offers customers who are below the federal poverty line discounts. Another solution is a mobile grocery store. Fresh Moves Mobile Market, based in Chicago and started by the Urban Growers Collective, is a store that is located on an old school bus. Inside the bus are fresh vegetables and fruits. Instead of having the individual travel to the store, the store goes to them.

​Nutritious and fresh foods play an extremely prominent role in living a healthy lifestyle. Those who have little access to such a vital part of maintaining one’s health will suffer consequences in the long run. Even with innovative solutions like nonprofit and mobile grocery stores, there continue to be many individuals who aren’t able to buy what they need. In the future, we can only hope that this inequality is reduced and that where you live doesn’t determine what you eat.