Food deserts are generally defined as regions that lack access to supermarkets and affordable, healthy foods, particularly in low-income communities. According to the USDA's most recent report on food access, as of 2017, approximately 39.5 million people – 12.9% of the US population – lived in low-income and low food access.
In urban areas, higher levels of poverty have been associated with lower access to supermarkets. Food access has been shown to disproportionately affect Black communities: several studies have observed that neighborhoods with higher proportions of Black residents tend to have fewer supermarkets and further retail access, disproportionately affecting food security levels within the community.
While food deserts have historically been assessed through geographical measures of food access, aspects of a region's food environment, built environment, and socioeconomic characteristics are becoming increasingly recognized in defining and identifying food deserts. The USDA measures food access across different geographical regions by considering different indicators of food access such as proximity to a store, individual-level resources, and neighborhood-level structures that influence a household's access to food.
The rise of large supermarket chains in affluent suburban areas surrounding inner cities led to the decline of smaller, independently owned grocery stores within urban areas. This resulted in regions where affordable food options are primarily accessible to individuals with the means to pay for public transportation or their own personal vehicles.
Another explanation for the emergence of food deserts in the United States is the increased economic segregation between 1970 and 1988 that accompanied the migration of wealthy households to suburban areas from inner-city neighborhoods. This resulted in the median household income in inner-city areas declining, which prompted the closure of many supermarkets in large cities.
History
The loss of enforcement of the Robinson-Patman Act in the 1980s was the primary cause of food deserts in the United States. This meant that grocery suppliers gave better prices to large supermarket chains, leaving smaller supermarkets unable to compete. According to Mitchell, "Food deserts were not, by the way, a consequence of suburbanization and white flight".
Subsequent policies and studies in the 1990s framed food deserts as an issue of what Americans were eating. Further studies in the 2000s and 2010s have served to correct the framing as an issue of where Americans lived. Such corrections in addressing food deserts served to give those most impacted a greater voice on the matter, especially Black residents in lower-income communities. Studies have further shown that attention to these neighborhoods were historically attributed to health and food rather than food markets leaving these neighborhoods in itself.
The rise of large supermarket chains in affluent suburban areas surrounding inner cities led to the decline of smaller, independently owned grocery stores within urban areas. This resulted in regions where affordable food options are primarily accessible to individuals with the means to pay for public transportation or their own personal vehicles.
Another explanation for the emergence of food deserts in the United States is the increased economic segregation between 1970 and 1988 that accompanied the migration of wealthy households to suburban areas from inner-city neighborhoods. This resulted in the median household income in inner-city areas declining, which prompted the closure of many supermarkets in large cities.
Early research on food deserts in the United States emerged in the late 1900s to the early 2000s. During this time, researchers began looking into how neighborhood food environments shaped health outcomes. Initial studies often framed food deserts only as spatial problems, only focusing on the decline of supermarkets in low-income neighborhoods and the distance barriers residents faced. Over time, researchers questioned this framing, emphasizing the fact that disparities in food access are affected by economic inequality. This shift contributed to more expanded approaches to understanding food deserts in U.S. research.
Definitions
Distance
Distance-based measurements measure food accessibility to identify food deserts. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Service measures distance by dividing the country into multiple 0.5 km square grids. The distance from the geographic center of each grid to the nearest grocery store gauges food accessibility for the people living in that grid.
Different factors are excluded or included that affect the scale of distance. The USDA maintains an online interactive mapping tool for the United States, the "Food Access Research Atlas", which applies four different measurement standards to identify areas of low food access, based on distance from the nearest supermarket.
The first standard uses the original USDA food desert mapping tool "Food Desert Locator". It defines food deserts as having at least 33% or 500 people of a census tract's population in an urban area living 1 mile (10 miles for rural area) from a large grocery store or supermarket.
The second and third standards adjust the scale of distance and factor income to define a food desert. In the US, a food desert is a low-income census tract residing at least in urban areas ( in rural areas), or away in urban areas (20 miles in rural areas) from a large grocery store. The availability of other fresh food sources like community gardens and food banks are not included in mapping, and can change the number of communities that should be classified as food deserts.
A 2014 geographical survey found that the average distance from a grocery store was 1.76 kilometers (1.09 miles) in Edmonton but only 1.44 kilometers (0.89 miles) when farmers' markets and community gardens were included, which makes it 0.11 miles under the latter definition for an urban food desert.
The fourth standard takes vehicular mobility into account. In the US, a food desert has 100 households or more with no vehicle access living at least from the nearest large grocery store. For populations with vehicle access, the standard changes to 500 households or more living at least away. Travel duration and mode may be other important factors. As of 2011, public transport is not included in mapping tools.
Fresh food availability A food retailer is typically considered to be a healthful food provider if it sells a variety of fresh food, including fruits and vegetables. Food retailers like fast-food restaurants and convenience stores are typically not in this category as they usually offer a limited variety of foods that constitutes a healthy diet. Frequently, even if there is produce sold at convenience stores, it is of poor quality. A "healthy" bodega, as defined by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, stocks seven or more varieties of fresh fruits and vegetables and low-fat milk.
Different countries have different dietary models and views on nutrition. The distinct national nutrition guides add to the controversy surrounding the definition of food deserts. Since a food desert is defined as an area with limited access to nutritious foods, a universal identification of them cannot be created without a global consensus on nutrition.
Access to fresh food involve economic mobility and affordability. While there are ways in which the government actively support's nutritional accessibility, individuals facing food insecurity utilize different strategies to cope. Individuals revert to restricting their diet, choosing cheaper foods that are more processed and less nutritious, skip meals, or choose not to purchase mediations and or other products so they can purchase food instead. Such strategies lead to long term issues such as obesity.
To address this issue, policies and systemic strategies involve the implementation of SNAP, WIC, and the National School Lunch Program. It is then mostly economic safety nets that address the health issues faced by those who are food insecure. Additionally, more participatory approaches such as community investment can offer similar relief to those who face food insecurity.
Additionally, more participatory approaches such as community investment can offer similar relief to those who lack access to fresh food. Local governments use development funds from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to fund projects such as grocery co-ops in areas that lack accessibility to fresh food. Some state officials also promote corporate chains to fill the void created by food deserts, relying on corporate commerce as a solution to an embedded social and racial problem. In Oakland, California, communities respond to lack of fresh food's by creating urban gardens.
Income and food prices Other criteria include affordability and income level. According to the USDA, researchers should "consider... [the] prices of foods faced by individuals and areas" and how "prices affect the shopping and consumption behaviors of consumers."Access to affordable and nutritious food: Measuring and understanding food deserts and their consequences: Report to Congress. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. Jun 2009. Web. November 10, 2016. A 2012 study maintains that estimates of how many people live in food deserts must include the cost of food in supermarkets that can be reached in relation to their income.
For instance, in 2013, Whole Foods Market opened a store in the New Center area of Detroit, where one third of the population lives below the poverty line. Whole Foods is known for its more expensive healthy and organic foods. To attract low income residents, the Detroit store offered lower prices than other Whole Foods stores. If Whole Foods had not lowered the prices, residents would not be willing to shop there, and that area of Detroit would still be considered a food desert.
Measurements and Metrics Researchers have used many methods to measure and classify food deserts in the United States; one of them being spatial proximity to food retailers. Researches assess proximity between residential areas and supermarkets or large grocery stores. These metrics are widely used in food access research because they provide a standardized way to view areas with limited food.
Researchers have found limitations in relying on only spatial proximity as a measure of food access. Studies show that distance to grocery stores does not include key factors such as food affordability, household income, and transportation access. As a result of this, different measurement frameworks may classify the same area differently, which leads to inconsistent assessments across different studies.
Related terms
Much of the language behind food deserts is focused on how food inequities are routinely caused by anti-black racism. These terms serve to criticize race-neutral approaches to food desert scholarship and add more context to how industry practices exacerbate inequalities in food access.
Supermarket redlining
While supermarket redlining is usually used as a substitute for "food desert", supermarket redlining began use as a formal term first. The term was first used in a 2001 article by Elizabeth Eisenhauer titled "In Poor Health: Supermarket Redlining and Urban Nutrition". The article presented data on how grocery stores purposefully avoided low-income neighborhoods. Academics such as Alison Alkon and Teresa Mares use their own definition and framing of supermarket redlining to refer to the history of banks having discriminatory lending practices towards Black people.