My Opinion Monday (on Tuesday): Have You Seen A Food Desert Lately?
The topic of food deserts came up a couple of weeks ago when I was chatting with some friends. One of them had never heard the term before and couldn’t quite fathom the possibility of an area that did not contain a grocery store. Even when she thought of the urban areas in cities that she had visited, it seemed surprising that there was not quality food available nearby.
I was a bit condescending during the conversation and I said that she probably hadn’t been to the poor parts of urban areas and thus hadn’t witnessed the circumstance.
But my condescension has dropped away. I’ve been trying to come up with something to write about food deserts for this piece all weekend and when nothing substantial would come to me, I had to have a good look at the reason.
I am convinced that food deserts exist because I’ve read about them, heard podcasts about them and because I believe in the people who are trying to stomp them out. But it’s still pretty abstract in my mind. The reason is that I am, and always have been, privileged enough to not live near one.
Well, that may not be entirely true. I grew up miles and miles away from a grocery store. However we had a massive yard with a massive garden. More importantly, we and every household nearby had at least one car which was used to travel 20 minutes once a week to the nearest massive supermarket.
Nowadays, I still lead a very privileged life but I routinely drive through a relatively poor neighborhood. There as well, the signs of food desertdom are not overly apparent. It’s true that there are gas stations with convenience stores closer to the homes than there are grocery stores but the grocery stores are not that far away. They are definitely walkable (perhaps not with a week’s worth of groceries but with a couple of day’s worth it’s probably fine). The landscape therefore does not appear to lack a produce section for mile upon mile.
Conclusion: Even though I grew up far away from any grocery stores and even though I routinely drive through a poorer area of town with more convenience stores than grocery stores, I still have not witnessed anything like a food desert. I no longer feel condescension towards my friend who can’t imagine one existing anywhere. I find it hard to imagine too.
So here we have someone who really cares about the issues surrounding our nation’s health, who has heard the cry from above to begin combating the problems and who wants to help (in a small way) by writing about the issues and bringing them to people’s awareness, and even this person finds it all a bit abstract.
This person is, of course, me and I’m feeling sad and frustrated about it all today. If I can’t picture these deserts and talk about them concretely and passionately, than how can I imagine a nation of people believing in and taking on the problem?
Maybe we need a way to make the problem more visible. Maybe that’s why the work people like Michelle Obama are doing is so important. Or maybe visibility will happen all on its own if unemployment rates stay high and poverty rates rise. But that’s not exactly something we should hope for, is it?
HI Christine, I like that you are always thinking of things like this. I not only have seen urban food deserts but have lived in one. When I was going to university at Wayne State in downtown Detroit, there was no where to buy any fresh food. This was almost thirty years ago. The neighborhood was peppered with small markets carrying Wonder bread, beef jerky, fruit drink. No fresh fruit, no decent bread and no real juice. The ONLY grocery store was Farmer Jack, miles away. I had to take the bus with a cart to get to the grocery store or borrow a car. There was no place to buy fresh vegetables and produce. But what if I had no money for the bus? And can you imagine how hard it was for me to do this with grocery bags in the middle of winter? Hauling a heavy cart up and down the bus…that was me, in my late teens, strong and healthy. But what if you are elderly? Or not healthy and strong? What then?
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/12/08/1964579/it-was-successful-last-spring.html
Now imagine eating only canned vegetables because that is all you can afford or is on offer? The inability to eat a fresh salad? Or freshly steamed green beans?
There is an urban food desert just across the causeway in my own city of Miami. Thankfully, some very smart people have created a farmers market to provide access to city dwellers to fresh, affordable fruits and vegetables. http://rootsinthecity.com/
They also run a garden that is manned by students and then they sell the produce. When season starts, I go there every Wed. to get fresh papaya, collard greens, green beans and some wonderful sweet potato pie. Some people are scared to shop there, for me, being from detroit, it’s convenient and no fear on my part. I feel I’m helping others by supporting them. And I have loads of great conversations with the students and locals.
ON top of that, you have the Wholesome Wave Foundation that works with some urban farmers markets that allow users of food stamps to double their value at the markets. It’s a wonderful idea.
http://wholesomewave.org/
I suggest you read more about these great organizations and remember that because WE are not affected by these challenges, doesn’t mean they aren’t there. Thanks for a great post, Christine!
La Diva Cucina recently posted: Check out La Diva Cucina’s NEW cooking club blog: Tutti A Tavola!
Great info! Thanks for sharing the links.
Just to be clear, I wasn’t saying that I don’t think the deserts are there. My point was: maybe the lack of anger, the lack of desire for change, comes form the fact that many people haven’t experienced them (at least this could be part of the reason).
I’ve heard about the program for food stamps at farmer’s markets. I think it’s wonderful. Unfortunately, I’ve heard even more lately about how fast food restaurants like MacDonalds, KFC and Taco Bell are trying to be approved for food stamp use (http://gothamist.com/2011/09/06/taco_bell_and_kfc_want_a_piece_of_t.php). I hope that food deserts that contain fast food restaurants will also be those with farmers markets so that there is that choice for people.
The fast food places already have the dollar menus, I guess it will be up to people to be responsible for themselves! I can see it as a cheap meal fix once in a blue moon but not for every week or day as part of a balanced diet and nutrition.
As for your second paragraph, people are so consumed dealing with the issues that affect themselves personally…even I get burnt out on the “issues” and we all have our own causes that we believe in. But I’m happy to know that you think about this stuff and post your thoughts. x
La Diva Cucina recently posted: Check out La Diva Cucina’s NEW cooking club blog: Tutti A Tavola!
Oh yeah….I’m not sure how many fast food restaurants are actually in urban food deserts….because they make more money and don’t get robbed as often elsewhere. Just my observations from Detroit and Chicago. There are no fast food places in Overtown, to my knowledge.
La Diva Cucina recently posted: Check out La Diva Cucina’s NEW cooking club blog: Tutti A Tavola!
I really don’t know the stats about fast food restaurants and food deserts. However, it seems that almost every article I’ve read about food deserts brings up the proximity of fast food and the lack of grocery stores. Here’s one about Chicago: http://www.chicagonow.com/chicago-muckrakers/2011/01/city-bans-fast-food-restaurants-should-chicago-be-next/ Note thought that no stats are given so it’s not clear if it’s really true that there are a lot of fast food restaurants or if it’s just the general impression people have. Hard to say.
Also, there are some recent studies out that show that income level, proximity to fast food restaurants and frequency of fast food restaurant visits are linked. Looks like fast food restaurants might profit more by situating themselves in low-income areas (sadly). Here’s a link summarizing some of the studies http://dcentric.wamu.org/2011/07/fast-food-and-food-deserts/
Thanks for your thoughtful comments! I really appreciate the dialogue and interesting points.
I have seen one BUT what I’ve found is that in some poorer areas that I’ve been through there are really tiny grocery stores with few selections and the prices are far higher than what I experience through my food coop and my suburban store. That doesn’t seem quite fair.
adventuresindinner recently posted: One skillet supper
No, it’s not fair at all. You know, normally I don’t cite Wikipedia for more than a brief definition but in the case of food deserts there is a wealth of info with plenty of interesting scientific studies cited as well. There, your sense of the situation is confirmed, “It has been suggested that people of low socioeconomic status ultimately spend up to 37% more on their food purchases, due to smaller weekly food budgets and poorly stocked grocery stores (Morland, 2002). Fringe food retailers in food deserts can have a 30-60% markup on prices, provide a limited selection of products and a dominant marketing of processed foods. A comparison of prices consumers pay for similar foods purchased at a different outlet determine disparities in real food prices. ” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_desert
So true!
adventuresindinner recently posted: One skillet supper
Great post. Personally, I don’t think one has to necessarily *live* in a food desert to experience it. Many people in the higher populated urban areas may as well be seeing a mirage when they pass by the well-stocked supermarket shelves of healthy food choices available. If their income level precludes them from choosing from those shelves and they are forced by their financial circumstances to steer their grocery carts to the cheaper processed food sections. The working poor must make tough choices every month, pay the mortgage/rent/utilities etc., and choose a *lower grade* of food to put on the table or choose to shop in the *oasis* section of the supermarket and hope that the heat and lights don’t get turned off.
Paula recently posted: Spa Themed Cookies
You are so right, Paula! The issue is not just food deserts, where it is hard to even get to somewhere that sells nutritious food. The issue is also the cost of nutritious food once the grocery store is reached. My mom has been saying for years that the price difference between juice/milk and soda pop is scandalous. The same goes for just about any healthy-unhealthy comparison. I really wish I knew more about all the tangled web of issues. I do wonder if tax breaks and subsidies to producers of healthy foods (with such subsidies withheld from producers of unhealthy foods) would make a difference. Community gardens would be another solution. Other ideas?