Food Deserts Research Paper

Individuals of higher income levels often have private insurance that allows them to see a physician on a regular basis. These individuals are able to prevent many diseases before they exacerbate. They often eat low fat diets or plant based diets. They are educated on their nutritional health and often make better choices when choosing the different types foods to eat. Due to their income, they can afford to eat healthy food and make healthy food choices. Even though these individuals may be predisposed to certain diseases, their diets prevent them from becoming prevalent in their lives. Due to the individual’s socioeconomic status they make enough money that they don’t stress about the necessities in life. These individuals live in areas such as Roswell, Johns Creek. Alpharetta, Buckhead, Kennesaw, and Stockbridge. Individuals of a poor economic status have limited access to healthcare. These individuals often have Medicaid, Medicare, or no health insurance at all. They often eat diets that are high in fat. Individuals of poor economic status aren’t often educated about eating healthy. They often eat unhealthy because it is too expensive to eat healthy. These individuals often receive government subsidiaries such as WIC and SNAP benefits for themselves and their children. There aren’t many healthy food stores if any at all in these neighborhoods. Stores such as Whole Foods, Sprout, and Trader Joe’s aren’t located in poverty stricken communities because the individuals can’t afford the prices. It is a disadvantage that the grocery chains in the neighborhood don’t offer the resident a healthier option. Individuals of poor economic status often fight chronic illnesses such as high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and often cancer. They often live sedentary lifestyles that contribute to these diseases. They eat diets that are high in red meats one that contributes to

Is Syracuse's “food desert” still a problem? Well, not so much. With a brand new supermarket people can say the city of syracuse is no longer a food desert. But this is just a start, a strong step in the right direction. Sarah Moses explains “The grocery store at 611 South Ave. will be located in an area that community leaders have called a "food desert" because of a lack of affordable grocery stores within easy walking distance for the area's many low-income residents, many of whom do not own cars.” This can force people to buy food at corner stores with high prices and no healthy options. The researchers were trying to find if ethnicity and race are active factors in how people buy food. They believed that ethnicity does have a significant role in how food is purchased. Different ethnic groups will buy different foods at different stores in different places based on their culture.

The lack of access to and availability of health food has always been a Public Health issue, affecting many lives, particularly the underserved population. The presence of small corner stores in inner cities that carry unhealthy food items has been linked with increased risk of chronic diseases and obesity. The inner cities in New York with low-income and minority communities have a large number of corner stores in close proximity to the neighborhoods and fewer number of grocery stores as well as supermarkets at a distance from the neighborhood. The owners of the corner stores in the inner city neighborhoods have very limited knowledge about the health benefits associated with the consumption of highly nutritious food. They are also unaware of the health consequences associated with the consumption of unhealthy food. Without any knowledge about health and food, these corner stores are simply

shopping. Rural households generally have greater access to cars, but those that do not— farmworkers for example—have virtually no public transportation available to them to reach stores beyond their immediate communities. Data from USDA suggest that 25 percent more of all occupied housing units report having no access to a vehicle in rural food deserts than in most rural tracts. For urban food deserts, the percentage of households without access to vehicles is anywhere from 24 to 38 percent higher than in other urban areas [8]. With limited transportation, instead of supermarkets or grocery stores, the low-income residents in these communities often must rely on the smaller fast-food restaurants and convenience stores that may not carry all

Citizens of low socioeconomic communities are more likely to consist of corner stores, carry outs, and small markets that sell processed, high-sugar, and high-fat foods. Resulting in residents in low-income communities more inclined to becoming obese and acquiring diabetes. Majority inner city urban communities do not have adequate grocery stores without adequate grocery stores, locals are more likely to be afflicted with diabetes, obesity, and higher mortality rates compared to high socioeconomic

“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).

For many low-income Americans, the dialogue around health usually revolves around how accessible fresh food is to them. Gilligan’s article on Slate published on Feb 10th, 2014 purports that the problem does not lie with the so-called deserts. The argument presented by Gilligan assesses the validity of the claim that poor people are unhealthy because they do not have proper access to cheap, healthy food. It is not by getting more and more fresh food at low costs to these poor neighborhoods that people will become healthier but rather by assessing the poverty itself. Gilligan’s article is heavily factual and relies on statistical analysis to provide a clearer picture of the impact that more fresh food has had and sticks to a logical argument

Research indicates an association between increased access to supermarkets and healthier eating behaviors. A study conducted by the Reinvestment Fund found that increasing the number of supermarkets in underprivileged communities bolstered property values, led to a decline in unemployment and decreased food prices (Karpyn, Manon, Treuhaft, Giang, Harries, & McCoubrey, 2010). The availability of retail establishments that sell high quality, nutritious foods at affordable prices is an important determinant for facilitating healthy diet choices, reducing obesity and preventing diabetes. The tax incentives offered to supermarket and healthy food establishments could be offset by the increase in employment, business revenue and increased property

On a recent trip to the grocery store, the first thing that caught my eye was a big sale on potato chips for ninety nine cents. What a great deal, everyone in my vicinity was picking up two or three bags to take home. This might seem like a pretty ordinary event at most grocery stores, but it really exemplifies a bigger problem in our society which often goes unnoticed, food insecurity and it’s correlation to obesity and other health problems. Hunger in our society is an enormous problem that often goes unmentioned, but this problem is not going away on its own, and in fact is causing significant issues in our society. The issue of hunger is not always about the quantity of food, but also about the quality of the food supply, more often than not, the more accessible foods and cheaper foods are those containing high levels of sugar and fat which are more affordable to the poor and working poor in our communities. As Berg points out in this quote, people who are hungry generally choose the cheaper option that will fill them up, “When you’re just trying to get your calorie intake, you’re going to get what fills your belly”(Berg). If we as a community made an effort to demand foods with a higher nutritional value, such as fruits and vegetables, have the same price as those high in sugar and fats, people would more often select the healthy and nutritious options as a recent survey at the Des Moines Area

These poor neighborhoods have a lot of fast food restaurants, gas stations and mini-marts. They do not have access to grocery stores or farmers markets where they can purchase healthy foods like fresh fruits or vegetables. These neighborhoods often do not have sidewalks for people to walk or ride bikes on. Parks and other means of recreation are not easily found in poor neighborhoods either. Billboards in neighborhoods and advertisements on television and magazines advertise either restaurants or foods that are high in calories, fat and sugar. This sends a message to people, especially children, that these are the foods that should be eaten. The effect of a person’s environment can lead to poor food choices which can eventually lead to obesity and all the problems associated with

All living things need to consume some type of food to survive. Just like all animals, humans need food. With the population estimated around 7.4 billion, according to World Food Programme, only 795 million people do not have the necessary access to healthy foods to live a healthy life. The vast amounts of products being sold with large amounts of sugar and other unhealthy ingredients has been affecting the human population for years. As the result of low income families in “food deserts” undernourished families are becoming more and more frequent. Undernourished women and children are affected everyday because of “food deserts.” Low income areas have supermarkets, drug stores, food markets, etc, but the distribution of healthy foods are

Department of Agriculture in 2005 showed that 5.1 percent of all U.S did not have the food they wanted or needed because of access related problems. Access to healthy foods includes not just proximity to retail locations that offers these types of foods but also the variety, cost, and the quality of foods (U.S Department of Agriculture). Accessing healthy food is a challenge for many Americans particularly those living in a low income neighborhood. In hundreds of neighborhoods across the country, nutritious, affordable, and high quality food is out of reach. Research shows that people in low income communities walk outside their door to find no grocery store, farmers’ markets or other source of fresh foods. Instead they are bombarded by fast foods and convenience stores selling high fat, high sugar, and process foods. (Helmers and Dave 45- 67). The U.S Department of Agriculture 2009 “food dessert” study examines access to supermarkets and determined that 23.5 million people cannot access a supermarket within a mild of their home (U.S Department of Agriculture).A key concern for people who live in areas with limited access is that they rely in small grocery or convenience stores that may not carry all the foods needed for a healthy

The Western phenomenon of “fat and poor” seems baffling to many across the world. Why is it that our poorest individuals are riddled with diabetes, obesity, and other weight-related diseases? Many Americans live paycheck to paycheck. After bills are taken care of, the necessity that always suffers because of financial insecurities is food. People are quick to choose the cheap and fast food options over their healthy and time-consuming counterparts. This leaves many Americans to pick up the check for their bad food decisions later in life. At McDonald’s, a cheeseburger is cheaper than a salad, but a triple bypass surgery or a lifetime insulin supply surely costs more in the long run. When a monthly trip to the grocery store for a family of four costs more at the moment of purchase than a trip to the drive thru for a nightly meal, there’s no wonder why the decision to eat nutrient-sparse meals is easily made. For a struggling family, the logical realization that cooking at home can cost pennies per person is easily out shadowed by the quick and easy option from the closest drive thru with a dollar menu. While junk food provides the short-term satisfaction of a cheap meal, eating home cooked meals will save you big bucks in the long run.

In the Logan Square neighborhood, there is a lack of viable grocery store options. Nonetheless, throughout the City of Chicago there is an abundant amount of restaurants and food options; however, many of these food options are not the healthiest. As stated by the Food Empowerment Project, a food desert is typically “Described as geographic areas where residents’ access to affordable, healthy food options [...] is restricted or nonexistent due to the absence of grocery stores within convenient travelling distance.” Moreover, the people who live in these food deserts are low income families and minorities. These food deserts are the leading cause of food insecurity. Food insecurity is defined as limited or uncertain availability of nutritious food options.

Millions of people worldwide suffer from obesity and food insecurity. The extent of research on food security and obesity has increased considerably since 1995. At first, the relationship and topic between obesity and insecurity were considering as a contraction. But now, with more expanded research and knowledge, researchers Frongillo and Bernal have come to the conclusion that the “coexistence of food insecurity and obesity is expected given that both are consequences of economic and social disadvantage” (2014). Living in a food desert area, such as the community of Humphreys Country in Mississippi, people not only lack a balanced nutrition, but also are at an increased risk for chronic conditions like obesity, diabetes and heart diseases. With the help of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, opening supermarkets and distributing healthy alternatives by food trucks may lower the percentage of people who suffer from food insecurity and other health risks at the same time.