Eating healthy is the foundational practice that can help American society become a fit nation. While this is the main goal for individuals, there are many aspects that hinder eating a healthy diet. Socioeconomic and sociodemographic factors play an important role in accessing healthy foods. It is a disturbing irony that many people in a wealthy country like America do not have the proper nutrition they need to maintain optimal health. Such individuals live in areas called food deserts that have limited food options. These areas influence unhealthy eating habits that result in epidemiological issues. Major cities, like New York City, are facing the challenge of inadequate nutrition in urban contexts. Through health literacy and better access to healthy foods, food deserts can be eliminated and can aid in alleviating health disparities.
In Scotland, in the early 1990s, a resident of a public housing sector scheme used the term food desert for the first time. Since then, researchers have used food deserts for different meanings in research. Food deserts were defined as “urban areas with 10 or fewer grocery stores and stores with less than 20 employees” (Rodriguez 14). Food deserts can be urban or rural areas where individuals cannot buy food due to income and location. Also, food deserts possess unhealthy types and quality of foods rather than the number of foods, types, and sizes of food stores available to residents (i.e. farmers’ markets and supermarkets vs. fast food chains). These definitions make it difficult to come up with a general agreement on what is an adequate definition of a food desert and what guidelines are required for identifying food deserts.
In the United States, food deserts are a health phenomenon. There are many understandings of how food deserts came into existence. The first suggestion explains the expansion and closure of supermarkets, which hindered supermarket growth in urban and inner-city areas, and stimulated the growth of large chain supermarkets in affluent suburban areas where consumers have better quality, variety, and price for food options. In the suburbs, stores are more suitable for consumers having longer business hours and better parking options. These supermarkets have crippled the smaller, “mom and pop,” neighborhood grocery stores’ competitive edge. Consequently, the neighborhood grocery stores are going out of business and individuals who want quality food will have to access it by car or public transportation, which limits the geographical access to healthy food options. By this perception, an independent retailer asserts a food desert is “an area where high competition from the multiples [large chain supermarkets] has created a void” (Chen, 2).
The second belief reflects on the demographics of urban areas between 1970 and 1988. Within this time period, geographic and economic segregation grew when households of higher socioeconomic status moved from the inner city to the suburbs. This reallocation cut the median income of urban areas and “forced nearly one-half of the supermarkets in the three largest U.S. cities (i.e. New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles in the 1970s and 1980s) to close” (Walker 876). As urban areas become more densely populated, supermarkets find urban areas unappealing due to the scarcity of real estate, zoning laws, and lower demographic purchasing power. It is very difficult for large supermarkets to find an adequate size of land, because properties are sold in smaller pieces, and since most individuals in urban areas are at a lower socioeconomic status the monetary gain will not be in large chain supermarkets’ best interests. These challenges have been evident for decades. However, there are effective approaches that can help alleviate undernutrition.
The first solution is creating initiatives to educate communities about health. Health literacy should start in low-income communities. According to Judith C. Rodriguez, the former President of the American Diabetes Association, “Only 12% percent of adults have proficient health literacy, as defined by the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL). In other words, nearly 9 in 10 adults may lack the skills needed to manage their own health and prevent disease. According to the NAAL, 14% of adults (30 million people) have below basic health literacy. These adults are more likely to report their health as poor (42%) and are more likely to lack health insurance (28%) than adults with proficient health literacy” (Walker 876). Policymakers, researchers, and health professionals should work together and consider urban and rural environments as entities where health education is a priority. By doing this, health education programs can improve health outcomes and produce cost-effective advancements in diets within underserved communities.
More research into the unique dynamics of rural and urban food deserts is needed to better understand how food deserts are created and how they can be prevented. One innovative way to study rural and urban areas is through social media. In a study from Applied Geography Journal, food-related activities from social media Twitter provide an ideal method for measuring exposure to the food environment in real time. The measure reflects food choices people make on Twitter and where they decide to eat. The study compares, “groups of Twitter users who shop in grocery stores to those who dine at fast food restaurants and found that the prevalence of grocery stores that stock fresh produce within an individual’s neighborhood may significantly influence him or her to make nutritious food choices” (Walker 877). Studies like this can be a great asset in understanding individual behaviors in how they choose food and what reasons are behind their dietary choices.
The second solution is improving food access. In the American Journal of Preventive Medicine study, Buffalo, NY had issues with low-income households not having consistent access to healthy food through farmers’ markets. Buffalo’s solution was to have farmers’ markets accept purchases through the Women, Infants, and Children and Seniors Farmers’ Market Nutrition programs. This process can be the blueprint for other communities that are categorized as food deserts. Since access to supermarkets is a challenge, it is wise to bring healthy food to the neighborhoods that need it the most.
Chen, Xiang, and Xining Yang. “Does food environment influence food choices? A geographical analysis through ‘tweets’.” Applied Geography. 51 (2014).
Rodriguez, Judith C. “Serving the Public: Health Literacy and Food Deserts.” Journal of the American Dietetic Association. January 2011.
Walker, Renee E., Christopher R. Keane, and Jessica G. Burke. “Disparities and access to healthy food in the United States: A review of food deserts literature.” Health & Place. 16, no. 5 (September 2010).
Image credit: “Good Food Display,” National Cancer Institute, WikiCommons.
