Food Of A Food Desert

A food desert is an area with low income that is mostly filled with unhealthy foods that can be found in fast food restaurants and local convenience stores. Since the area is already penurious or poverty stricken it causes healthy foods with the nutrients that the human body needs to be unavailable. People tend buy the foods that they can afford, which is usually the lower priced unhealthy foods. The foods they eat can be the source of being overweight which can lead to obesity or other health related diseases. It is stated in “Food deserts, Hunger, and Obesity” by Asha Brundage--Moore that in low income states they are not much grocery stores. This is what causes more of a correlation between poverty and obesity, the location plays a major role in the two. Food deserts can associate obesity with poverty due to the location’s

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

Many of the people living in food deserts are people with low income. These low-income families often turn to the junk food provided at the convenience stores and fast food restaurants because it is all they can afford. Socio-economic status is a defining characteristic of food deserts. Food deserts are most commonly found in areas dominated by minorities and low-income families. Studies show that wealthy areas have about triple the amount of supermarkets as poor urban areas do. In addition to this, predominantly white communities have about 4 times as many grocery stores as predominantly black ones do. Studies also show that grocery stores in African-American neighborhoods are usually smaller and have less option when it comes to the

Food insecurity the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food, "more than 800 million people live every day with hunger or food insecurity as their constant companion" (Definitions of Food Security) . People who suffer from food insecurity often live in low income areas that lack grocery stores, farmer markets, or healthy food at a reasonable price called food deserts. So, the question is how can we address this issue. In order to get a better understanding of my chosen issue, and make others more aware of this matter, I partook in several events on campus. For example, On April

One of the most troubling issues that is concerning our country is the amount of people living with type 2 diabetes and obesity because of food deserts. Food deserts are affecting the lives of older generation and could follow into the next generation if nothing is done to eliminate the harmful consequences of food deserts in the United States. A complete wipe out of food deserts will not be an easy process, it will years to change the eating habits for lower-income communities. It is less of a challenge to just put a supermarket in a community that needs it, but changing poor nutrition is not as easy. To dispose of food deserts, there are several ways to take action within rural communities. Since fresh fruits and vegetables are troublesome

Beverly is one of the most integrated areas in hype-segregated Chicago. Like that of Hyde Park or Rodgers Park, except Beverly obtains this diversity without the presence of a university. As well, “Beverly has retained its reputation as one of Chicago’s most stable middle-class residential districts” (Skerrett 2005). Black families during the 1950s and 60s started moving south as there was the historical “white flight”, leaving these communities mainly black. Beverly, however, was the expectation, as many black families did not come immediately here (Moore 2014). Demographically today, Beverly is 57% white, 35% black, and 5.6% Hispanic, making it the 15th largest white community in the city of Chicago, with most of these individuals are of

The primary effect of living in a food desert census tract is that residents tend to be vastly more food insecure than those who have easier access to grocery stores. Approximately 23 million Americans live in census tracts defined as food deserts. The United States Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as “a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life (USDA 2018).” Food desertification is a complex socioeconomic problem with no clear consensus regarding how to best tackle the several issues that may influence its existence. It can occur in both rural and urban settings, with each locale often facing its own logistical

Hundreds of thousands of Chicagoans live in what’s known as a food desert. A food desert is in an area of focus that is short on access to fresh meat and produce. These areas are usually over populated with packaged and processed foods, which are not always healthy. They also have a significant amount junk that you can easily find in convenience stores and fast food restaurants.

Many areas in the United States contain an abundance of neighborhoods that function with little to no healthy food sources nearby because of the large number of people in poverty. With the fleeing number of locally owned grocery stores and convenient fast food restaurants sprouting in urban and rural areas, residents do not have an adequate quantity of fruits and vegetables readily available. The City of Baltimore defines a food desert as “an area where the distance to a supermarket is more than one quarter of a mile; the median household income is at or below 185 percent of the Federal Poverty Level; over 30 percent of households have no vehicle available; and the average Healthy Food Availability Index score [convenience stores, corner stores, and supermarkets] is low” (Food Deserts). Baltimore City today “ranks second among similarly sized cities for the number of low-income people living in food insecure areas” (Freishtat, 2014). Leaving eight percent of white Baltimoreans living in food deserts compared to the 35 percent of black Baltimoreans, and 30 percent of children living in food deserts in Baltimore alone (Buczynski, 2015).

This paper studies the economic factors of food deserts in America. Determining aspects of food store locations, supply and demand, food pricing, income, and consumer preferences are discussed as some of the economic causes of food deserts. Ten articles are used to support this paper with unique standpoints on this topic. Subjects that these articles examine are consumer demand, healthful food pricing, business opportunity costs, effects of low income, heterogeneity and homogeneity of food choices, and the effects of low income. This paper should demonstrate that food deserts result from supply and demand, income, determinability of food market locations, and demand preferences.

(2009) also found that prices did not match the economic status of the region. A study within the U.S. found prices to be higher in low income areas; though, there were mixed results according to area income and race in other studies (Beaulac et al., 2009). Residents within these regions may suffer from deprivation amplification, in which the already disadvantaged are further deprived when they are located in a food desert. The last two studies reviewed were specific to the Texas region and provided a more focused look at the burdens precipitated by rurality. Sharkey and Horel (2008) looked at spatial disparities associated with rurality within a six county-rural region of Texas. They found that distance decreased with increasing deprivation, minority composition, and population density; additionally, some of the most impoverished neighborhoods with the greatest minority composition had better potential spatial access to the nearest grocery stores (Sharkey & Horel, 2008). This finding was surprising, yet, over 20% of all rural resident neighborhoods were at least 17.7 km from the nearest supermarket or grocery store and 7.6 km from the nearest convenience store (Sharkey & Horel, 2008). The close proximity of convenient stores to rural residents within this region may lead to the purchase of more

Food Deserts In Low-Income Neighborhoods A food desert is where part of an area doesn’t have fresh vegetables or fruit and other healthy foods available near them. A food desert is basically a lack of vegetables and fruit. In the article What is a food desert? by Beck Derison, she states that a food desert is determined by “Race, socio-economic standing, location, and your access to transportation”.

Have you ever been to a small town and noticed how little healthy food they have? This is known as a food desert. Food deserts is where a small town doesn’t have healthy food options. The people who live there usually have obesity, diabetes, and other health problems. Grocery stores have little to no healthy food options and usually if they do have healthy food they are at a high price.

This article continues to expand upon the concept of food deserts by providing key insight that helps our understanding of food deserts. One of the main reasons why food deserts are a major issue for the United States is because this country fosters an obesogenic environment that limits the supply of healthy foods and provides an excess

From the National Poverty Center, “Almost fifty million people are food insecure in the United States, which make food insecurity one of the nation’s leading health and nutrition issues” (Gunderson & Ziliak, 2015). There are various factors that play a part for the large number of individuals who are food insecure such as poverty, unreliable sources of income, & etc. Yunge Change from the University of Mississippi states, “American households had to cut their amount of food intakes at times or had disrupted eating patterns” (Chang & Jinhee Kim, 2013). In Nevada, the amount of families and individuals who are not food insecurity has also become a problem and is beginning to