Food Desert Problem

In order to fix the issue of food deserts, the government has started some initiatives to fix the problem. One of the recently created initiatives is the Healthy Food Financing Initiative. The U.S. Departments of Treasury, Agriculture and Health and Human Services partnered with the Obama administration to create this initiative. It is used to provide aid to communities in lower income areas to develop and equip grocery stores, small retailers, corner stores, and farmers markets selling healthy food choices (Let’s Move). The government will use the census to tract and analyze how to split the $35 million budget (US Department of Health and Human Services). The hope of the initiative is to work towards eliminating food deserts within a seven-year span. Other initiatives like

could offer a volunteer to pick up the day old product from the store and the store in turn could create an accountability system between the store and food bank. numerous. The opportunities with the partnership are

Diverse groups in American society are often the most marginalized and therefore the most vulnerable to issues that undermine the fair and uncomplicated pursuit of health and wellbeing. One of those issues is the lack of access to affordable healthy food and, in many cases, the inaccessibility to food in general. Areas where affordable and healthy foods are largely unavailable are called food deserts and the members of the diverse groups that live in such areas or that have access to very little food at all often develop a sense of food insecurity. One of the groups that is increasingly impacted by food deserts and food insecurity is the nation’s elderly population which is, by most standards, defined as those individuals aged 65 and older. The following paper investigates this phenomenon by addressing the elderly population of Ada County, Idaho as representative of this diverse and often disenfranchised population. The paper investigates the issue of food deserts and food insecurity that threaten the health and wellbeing of the elderly in the context of the various elements of social determinants of health that contribute to their development and persistence. The paper also includes proposals for individual and population-based strategies to improve access to healthy and affordable food by this population as well as improve the health and wellbeing of its members.

In terms of governmental involvement in the management of food deserts, we argue that very little has been done legislatively by the Metro Nashville and Davidson county government. Despite the fact that several areas in the Davidson County have been identified as food deserts by the USDA, little to no legislation has been created to combat the problem and its effects on the health of its citizens. Edgehill has been put on the USDA map of food deserts, because it qualifies “as a “low-access community,” [where] at least 500 people and/or at least 33 percent of the census tract's population must reside more than one mile from a supermarket or large grocery store (for rural census tracts, the distance is more than 10 miles)” (USDA). However, the

Enter supermarket boosters like the Detroit Grocery Incubator Project. Part of Michigan’s Fair Food Network, the incubator aims to combat food deserts by increasing the number of supermarkets in Detroit neighborhoods. The initiative provides local entrepreneurs with on-the-job training and coursework on how to open and operate a successful grocery store. The incubator project also helps secure investors to allow entrepreneurs to open supermarkets in food deserts. Added bonuses: job creation, business development, and expanded food access in economically depressed Detroit.

The existence of food deserts is an issue of both public health and social justice (Schafft, Jensen and Hinrichs 153). Schafft et al. made this point with reference to the state of Pennsylvania. Utilizing data from Pennsylvania, Schafft et al. studied the relationship between residences in a food desert (whose definition was established through a proximity-based model utilizing distance from large grocery stores as a criterion) and found that schoolchildren living in food deserts were more likely to be both poor and obese. Schafft et al. utilized these findings to reach the conclusion that the

Food deserts are one of the biggest problems in society, as the authors of Food Justice bring up (Gottlieb & Joshi, 2010). In fact, Indianapolis is ranked worst in the nation for food deserts. So what is a food desert? A food desert is when places are left with the lack of availability of nutritious foods and high rates of poverty. Often times, these are known as grocery gaps because grocery stores move out of the area, normally located in low-income communities. It makes sense that they would move to make more profit, but it leaves those in the community left with essentially nothing. Also, most people living in a low-income community do not have access to transportation, so they cannot get to grocery stores that are outside of walking distance. This is why Gleaners, a local food justice organization, steps in and fills in places where grocery stores have left. The program that works to fix this is Mobile Pantries. As I will explore later, Mobile Pantries allows people who cannot reach grocery stores the ability to get nutritious foods they need. Mobile Pantries give people a sense of going to the grocery store and picking out healthy foods. While consumer choice is limited, as Patel mentions, Mobile Pantries still gives people healthy options (Patel, 2014). Gleaners is a part of the Food Justice Movement because while they are not changing consumer choice, they are providing individuals with the option of healthy foods and working to end hunger and obesity

Renting a place small and it has a kitchen is all we need. For in fact we could start in my kitchen and go from there. There are many resources out there willing to help by donating can goods, money and taking time to help out. In the summer we would have many youth helping because it looks good for them and we would always need a hand in this organization. More hands means more food.

Those residing in food desert communities are left with a small hand full of options when they do not have a car of their own. They have no choice but to use private cars, such as taxis, or to travel several miles on foot, or use public transit to get to healthful food stores. People without cars become dependent on food sources in their nearest proximity. In rural urban food desert areas, the distance to healthful, nutritious food access is near impossible on foot. According to a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, approximately 2.4 million families in the United States are more than a mile from a grocery store and do not have access to a vehicle. The physical distance from full service grocery stores leaves people in these food deserts to be more likely to purchase food

The locavore movement encourages people in towns to consume more locally grown food, by society consuming locally grown food transportation is cut down which helps better the environment. Since locally grown food is produce that is cultivated in the community transportation is down to a minimum which is a blessing for the environment. “ Eating local is better for air quality and pollution than eating organic. “ ( Source A ) less transportation use helps lessen the pollution in the air which in turn helps provide the community with cleaner fresher air. “ The move towards local food for all its trendiness highlights one of the problematic pieces of the modern food economy : the increasing reliance on foods shipped halfway round the world. “ ( Source E ) The

Poverty is an issue that can be discussed at great lengths, but the real challenge is finding effective ways to reduce or eradicate poverty. It is important to spend quality time developing approaches to the issue of poverty and how to alleviate it. Individuals living in poverty lead a life of limited opportunities and one of these limited opportunities is access to good quality healthy food. The American Nutrition Association considers this lack of access as a Food Desert defined as, “parts of the country vapid of fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthful whole foods, usually found in impoverished areas” ("USDA Defines Food Deserts | American Nutrition Association," n.d.). One way in which American’s can work towards a future with less poverty and eventually one with little to no poverty would be to eliminate the existence of Food Deserts.

In order to further support low-income communities and improve this population’s health the federal government needs to not only continue with the supplemental food programs they’ve already put in place, but enhance them by considering the barriers and address them. The government can intervene by integrating other components to the programs that further support people and help eliminate the main barrier by providing them direct access to grocery stores and healthier options. In order for government resources to be more effective in areas where there are limited grocery store options in the community, the government could begin by providing transportation services in areas where grocery stores are limited or if any at all. Providing transportation to those who are receiving government resources like WIC and SNAP would allow families to exhaust

The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) atlas on food deserts shows that most food deserts in California are in highly rural (USDA, 2017). Northern California, the Mojave Desert, and the Imperial Valley all have a high prevalence of food deserts (USDA, 2017). A closer look at the map also shows a significant amount of food deserts in urban areas of highly populated cities. Large portions of neighborhoods in urban areas like Los Angeles, San Diego, and Sacramento are food deserts (USDA, 2017). In this section, we will discuss the socio-economic characteristics of the people living in both types of food

“Food Desert” refers to an area in a rural or even urban region with little or no access to big grocery stores that provides affordable and fresh food for people to have a healthy diet. These areas are mostly composed of low-income households who are often Hispanics and African-Americans (Ploeg and Breneman et al). They are often “trapped” in a geographical location where only small convenient stores, which do not have sufficient supply of all common, fresh and healthy food, are available. Currently, there are 13.6 Million Americans who have difficulties in accessing to super markets and large grocery stores. People living in such areas with limited access to grocery stores spend 19.5 minutes more to travel, comparing to the people living in non-food-desert areas (Ploeg and Breneman et al).

The first step in achieving the goal of increasing the purchase and consumption of SNAP beneficiaries in Oakland County is to increase the participation rates of the DUBF program. A good way to accomplish this is through promotion. Promoting the the DUFB program and what is has to offer will increase awareness and educate participants of the benefits they are able to receive when they shop at the farmers market. Starting two months prior to the beginning of the farmers market season, the community dietitian will have developed numerous promotional advertisements . With the help of an assistant, the advertisements will be sent out and displayed at local businesses, community centers, government agencies and libraries within Oakland County. Promotional marketing types will include newsletters, flyers, brochures, and websites. Each advertisement material will include information about the farmers market, such as day and time of operation and location of market, as well as information on the DUFB program, the SNAP incentives offered, and benefits of participating. Additionally, the marketing material will promote the opportunity of nutrition education and ability to speak with a RD to answer any questions they may have.