The effect of Food Deserts

Tariah W.
January 21, 2016

coming in households, for instance, a single mother

and three children, she would only be able to afford
foods like McDonalds, Carls Jr. and other fast food
restaurants that have cheap and affordable foods.

A
single
mother
struggles
to
provide for her
three
children
with very little
income living in
an area infested
with fast food restaurants with no healthy food
markets in sight. What this type of place is called is a
food desert. A food desert is a place where there is
very low access to affordable healthy foods.
Throughout this article, I will be talking about how
living in a food desert can impact a person or familys
health and also how it impacts the world.

What is the problem/topic?

Living in a food desert limits peoples access
to healthy foods. For example, according to
Gallagher, people that live in food deserts have a
harder time eating healthy goods because of the
limited amount of healthy food markets near them
(2010). This shows that living in a food desert is
harder than living in a place that wouldnt be
considered one. Because of a very low income

What is causing the issue?

Food deserts are often seen in low income
areas. According to Schulzke, families that live in a
miles radios from healthy food markets have a harder
time buying healthier foods (2012). This shows that
there is little to no support system to those who live
in these areas.
People that live in
these areas have
little to no access to
grocery
stores
because of the area
that
they
are
located in. Another
causing issue of
food deserts is the
fact that no one
knows much about them. According to The North
American Industrial Classification, food deserts may
be under-reported because small grocery stores that
primarily sell packaged foods, are placed under the
same category that grocery stores such as Ralphs and
Whole Foods, places that sell fresh fruits and
vegetables (2015). This shows that because food
deserts are so under the radar, no one really knows
anything about them. Furthermore, because food
deserts are so unknown in communities and around
the globe, theres very little done to fix this problem.

What is the impact to local

communities?
The impact food
deserts have on the
local communities
consist of a division
between the rich and
the poor. What that
means, according to
Miller, foods are
correlated to social
classes, the rich who can afford healthy foods such as
fresh fruits and vegetables and also who can get to
grocery stores that are not in a miles radios and the
poor who dont have the ability to do those things due
to low income or no transportation (2010). This
shows that now there is a division between who and
who cannot afford foods that can help improve ones
health. This problem can lead the obesity. According
to Schulzke, because of the low amount of healthy
foods coming into these communities, more people
are getting sick and obese (2012). This shows that
because people that are living in these communities
dont have a good support system to decrease the
amount of sicknesses and obesity.

What are the impacts to personal

health?
Food deserts have the biggest impact on
someones personal health. For example, according
to the Food Empowerment Program, living in food
deserts can cause people of any age to contract high
blood pressure, obesity, type 2 diabetes and many
more diet related issues (2016). This shows that no
matter how old you are, living in a food desert can
cause your personal health to fall drastically. For
instance according to DCH; in San Diego, California,
33% of the adults living here are obese and 30% of
the children in grades fifth, seventh, and ninth are
overweight (2013). This shows that about 60% of the
population in your home town are overweight and
obese due to living in food deserts and having low
access to healthy foods. Furthermore these issues are

caused by a lack of fresh foods and markets in that

community.

What are current solutions?

Even though food deserts are negatively impacting
communities across the globe, there are ways in which
they can be fixed. According to FEP, some solutions to
decreasing food deserts would be to grow a community
garden (2016). By
growing
a
community
garden, it could
help people that

dont have any

transportation to
grocery stores by
allowing them to
have
easier
access to freshly
grown fruits and
vegetables to take home. Another great solution to
decrease food deserts would be to provide cooking
lessons in local areas to families that dont know how
to. According to Pollen, its healthier to eat home
cooked meals rather than going out buying precooked meals (2014). By knowing how to cook at
home, it allows that person to monitor how much or
how little of an ingredient they put into the meal. This
is important because it can decrease the amount of
obesity in that area. There are so many more ideas
that anyone could think of the help decrease the
amount of food deserts in the world. How would you
contribute in the process?

Final Remarks
Overall, food deserts are places where there is
very low access to healthy foods. Living in a food
desert can cause any person of any age to contract diet
related issues such has type 2 diabetes and high blood
pressure. These problems are caused by families
living in these areas eating unhealthy foods from
local corner stores. Also, living in a food desert
impacts the local community by classifying foods
into social class meaning the rich can afford foods
that the poor cannot. This shows how people living in

these communities have no support while struggling

to feed their families the healthy foods they need.
There are many ways to also reduce the amount of
food deserts around the world. One of those ways
could be growing a garden in your local community.
Now what can you and your friends do to help make
a difference in your community?

References
[Amount of people living in food deserts in the U.S]. Retrieved from
http://sites.psu.edu/sontheimerrcl/2014/10/15/65/
Division of Community Health, (2013). Obesity Prevention. Retrieved from
Http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dch/programs/CommunitiesPuttingPreventiontoWork/communities/pr
ofiles/obesity-ca_sandiego-county.htm

[Food desert infographic]. Retrieved from

http://befirstfoodfriendly.org/what-is-a-first-food-desert/

[Food desert solutions]. Retrieved from

http://brownisthenewpink.com/2014/05/27/food-deserts-and-swamps-social-justice-issue/
Food Empowerment Program, (2015). Food Deserts. Retrieved from
https://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.foodispower.org%2Ffood-deserts%2F
Gallagher, M. (2010). Food Deserts. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEWriN6kh3c
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Pollen, M. (2014). Michael Pollen on Cooking. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7Ty8HoIEEg
Schulzke, E. (2012). Obesity, Hungry, and Undernourished: The New Face for Food Insecurity. Retrieved from
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Hungry%20and%20Undernourished%3A%20The%20New%20Face%20of%20Food%20Insecu
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[Unemployment and poverty rate in 2000]. Retrieved from
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