What Are Food Deserts?

In the United States, 17.6 million American lack access to healthy food because there aren't any grocery stores or other establishments that sell fresh food in their area. Learn about food deserts and how we can fix them in this episode of BrainStuff.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works a brain
Stuff Lauren Volke bomb here. The United States still struggles
to feed people adequately. According to a new analysis by
the nonprofit organization Reinvestment Fund, seventeen point six million Americans
lack access to healthy food. It's not all bad news.

(00:23):
They analyzed limited supermarket areas or l says, often called
food deserts. Their analysis shows that in most states, access
to healthy food has improved overall during the past several years.
Even in states with significant population growth, such as Florida
and Arizona, the percentage of people who lived in alisas
decreased from six point eight percent to five point six

(00:45):
percent in six That means three point one million people
have better access to fresh foods than they used to,
but progress hasn't been consistent across the country. Even though
grossery stores aren't the only places to get fresh food.
Other retailers in hooting drug stores and corner stores. Health
experts note that food prices at grocery stores are lower

(01:05):
than those at smaller stores, and that large clubs like
Costcode Sam's typically require membership fees that may be a
barrier for some families. Plus, when there are fewer grocery
stores in a given area, food prices are typically higher. Additionally,
the analysis found that ls as are disproportionately found in
areas where the demographics include more people with low incomes,

(01:27):
people in poverty, and people of color. For example, food
access improved overall in Rhode Island, the number of people
living in alisas they're dropped thirty eight percent between twenty
six but of Rhode Islands remaining ALISA population is low
income residents. Access to healthy food is key for good

(01:47):
health and quality of life. People who live in areas
with poor access to healthy food are fifty percent less
likely to have a good quality diet. In communities with
good access to healthy food, there's a reduced incidence of diabetes,
for example. Food access also impacts other health conditions, such
as cardiovascular disease and even some types of cancer. The

(02:07):
Reinvestment Fund analysis identifies low supermarket areas by looking at
criteria such as income, car ownership rates, and the distance
to existing grocery stores, making adjustments for differences in rural
and urban areas. Still, residents of lsays travel almost twice
as far to get to grocery stores as residents in
places with good access to healthy food even when there

(02:29):
is a similar population density and car ownership. Retailers typically
place stores in areas where there's enough demand to sustain operations,
such as a denser population with a higher income. Low
income or rural areas don't offer those characteristics to attract
retailers without other incentives, and in urban areas, retailers face
barriers such as real estate costs, limited parking space for customers,

(02:53):
and traffic issues which can make it hard for large
trucks to enter and make regular deliveries. The LSA analysis
by the Reinvestment Fund will help direct government assistance to
communities to help bring grocery stores and healthy food retailers
to underserved communities through the government's Healthy Food Financing Initiative.
In the past ten years, drug stores such as Walgreens

(03:14):
have made efforts to stock limited grocery items including milk, eggs,
and fruit, calling these efforts a food oasis to combat
limited access in food deserts, and some communities address food
access through grassroots efforts such as mobile grocery stores, community gardens,
and farmers markets. For example, in Chicago, an urban farming
program that started back in sen with just a few

(03:36):
acres of land and a converted bus served its ten
thousand customer As of August. The program, called Fresh Moves
Mobile Market, serves senior centers, schools, and other locations on
Chicago's South and West sides weekly, focusing specifically on areas
with no access to fresh foods. Today's episode was written

(03:59):
by Sean Chavis and produced by Tyler Clang. Check out
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